Afghanistan

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Astor of Hever on 20 March (WA 153), what were the total infrastructure costs incurred by the United Kingdom Government in Afghanistan in the years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Lord Astor of Hever: The total infrastructure costs incurred, by financial year (FY), on operations in Afghanistan by the Ministry of Defence are set out in the following table:
	
		
			 FY 2007-08 FY 2008-09 FY 2009-10 
			 £149 million £162 million £236 million 
		
	
	The cost of operations is claimed by the Ministry of Defence from the Treasury special reserve.

African States: Maritime Safety and Security

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a representative of the United Kingdom was invited to attend the March 2012 Economic Community of Central African States-Economic Community of West African States Maritime Safety and Security Conference in Cotonou, and, if so, who was considered for attendance; what was the purpose of the conference; whether a United Kingdom representative attended and, if not, why not and whether budgetary restraint was a factor; and whether the United States, Belgium and France were represented.

Lord Howell of Guildford: British officials were invited to attend the March 2012 Economic Community of Central African States-Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Maritime Safety and Security Conference in Cotonou. The purpose of the meeting was for regional states to agree and sign a memorandum of understanding on maritime safety and security. Unfortunately, due to prior commitments, no officials were able to attend. Both the United States and France were represented, although the Government are not sighted on whether Belgium was represented.
	However, the Government continue to work closely with ECOWAS, and both UK-based officials and officials based in the region have attended other meetings with ECOWAS in recent months. In addition, last year the UK funded the creation of a maritime cell and since its creation, the Government have been using their wide-ranging expertise in this area to work closely with the cell's newly appointed commander to enhance their knowledge of maritime security practices, including during his recent visit to the UK.

Agriculture: Eggs

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 26 March (WA 195), why the latest European Union egg marketing regulations did not provide a prohibition on the marketing of class B eggs or products derived from such eggs not produced in a compliant system; whether class B eggs and products were formerly exempt from any claim as to production compliance with welfare standards; why they approved regulations without class B prohibition; and when they did so.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: European Union (EU) rules on the marketing standards for eggs were last updated in 2007. This was largely an exercise of consolidation aimed at bringing together earlier regulations and amendments in one place without altering the basic provisions. On this basis, the UK supported the introduction of the rules which are directly applicable in all member states. The rules on the marketing standards for eggs deal with issues such as the quality characteristics for class A and B eggs and how such eggs should be marketed. The rules are not designed to enforce welfare standards for laying hens nor do they set marketing requirements for egg products.
	UK Ministers and officials have met with the Commission on a regular basis over the past year to encourage a robust approach to enforcement of new minimum standards for the protection of laying hens within the legal framework that is available. We have also suggested using the EU rules on the marketing standards for eggs to help bring about compliance.

Agriculture: Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy

Lord Vinson: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 1 March (WA 363-4), what is the incidence of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in the United Kingdom sheep flock.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Great Britain-the joint descriptive report for scrapie surveillance of sheep and goats in 2010, published on the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratory Agency (AHVLA)'s website at http://vla.defra.gov.uk/science/docs/sci_tse_stats_scrapie.df, details the incidence and prevalence of classical and atypical scrapie in Great Britain between 2002 and 2010, with tables showing the numbers of animals tested each year, in each surveillance group.
	The next edition of the report, updated for 2011, will be published in the summer. In the mean time, a table published on the AHVLA's website at http://vla.defra.gov.uk/science/docs/sci_tse_stats_sheep.pdf details the numbers of sheep tested in each surveillance group in 2011 and January-February 2012. The summary below gives a brief comparison of the prevalence of classical and atypical scrapie in 2005 with that in 2007 and 2011:
	Classical scrapie-the prevalence of classical scrapie in healthy animals over 18 months of age slaughtered for human consumption (abattoir survey) has reduced by 66% between 2005 (0.1% of all animals tested) and 2011 (0.03%) but has remained unchanged between 2007 (0.02%) and 2011 (0.03%). The reductions in prevalence in this survey between these years are not statistically significant. In sheep over 18 months of age found dead on farm (fallen stock survey), the prevalence of classical scrapie has reduced by 92% between 2005 (0.32% of all animals tested) and 2011 (0.025%) and by 80% between 2007(0.13%) and 2011 (0.025%). The reductions in prevalence in this survey between these years are statistically significant.
	Atypical scrapie-the prevalence of atypical scrapie in healthy animals over 18 months of age slaughtered for human consumption (abattoir survey) experienced hardly any change between 2005 (0.14% of all animals tested) and 2011 (0.15%) although in 2007 it was 50% lower (0.07%) than in 2011 (0.15 %). The reduction in prevalence in this survey in 2007 is not statistically significant and could be due to sampling variability. In sheep over 18 months of age found dead on farm (fallen stock survey) , the prevalence of atypical scrapie experienced a 60% increase between 2005 (0.06% of all animals tested) and 2011 (0.1%) , and a 20% increase between 2007 (0.08%) and 2011 (0.1%). The increases in prevalence in this survey between these years are not statistically significant.
	It is important to remember that these figures correspond to the two sub-groups of the sheep population that are tested by the active surveillance system. The abattoir survey data represent the best approximation to the true prevalence of scrapie infection in the national sheep flock.
	Northern Ireland-no comparable report is available for Northern Ireland. Annual prevalence of scrapie in sheep, as a percentage of the population, is:
	
		
			 Year Classical scrapie prevalence for active surveillance (%) Overall classical scrapie prevalence (%) Atypical scrapie prevalence for active surveillance (%) Overall atypical classical scrapie prevalence (%) Overall scrapie prevalence (%) 
			 2002 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 
			 2003 0.043 0.086 0.000 0.000 0.086 
			 2004 0.000 0.139 0.000 0.000 0.139 
			 2005 0.338 0.338 0.000 0.000 0.338 
			 2006 0.171 0.303 0.019 0.019 0.322 
			 2007 0.056 0.111 0.083 0.083 0.194 
			 2008 0.048 0.048 0.096 0.096 0.144 
			 2009 0.000 0.066 0.000 0.000 0.066 
			 2010 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 
		
	
	The prevalence of classical scrapie in healthy animals over 18 months slaughtered for human consumption in Northern Ireland has been 0% over the past three years.
	The prevalence of atypical scrapie in healthy animals over 18 months slaughtered for human consumption in Northern Ireland was 0.164% (1 case) for 2011 and 0% over the previous two years.
	No cases of either classical or atypical scrapie have been found in sheep found dead on farms during the last three years.
	Details of confirmed cases of classical and atypical scrapie in Northern Ireland since 2000 are published at http://www.dardni.gov.uk/index/publications/pubs-dard-animal-health/publications_animal_health_ and_welfare-newpage-5.htm.

Air Ambulance Service

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average time taken for patient removal by air ambulance in the United Kingdom, from picking up a patient to arrival at hospital.

Earl Howe: The National Health Service does not operate air ambulances-they are run and funded by independent charities. The department therefore does not collect information relating to air ambulance performance.

Air Quality

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have complied with the terms of the temporary and conditional exemption for compliance with dangerous airborne particles (PM10) granted by the European Commission on 11 March 2011.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: In July 2011, the Commission confirmed that the UK Government had provided all the necessary information on actions being taken to reduce the risk of exceedences of the daily limit value for particulate matter (PM10) as set out in the Commission decision of 11 March 2011.

Air Quality

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will complete the five-yearly review of the air quality monitoring network required under Article 5 of Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe, due in 2011.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the concentrations of dangerous airborne particles (PM10) in Neasden Lane in 2011 change the status of the Greater London zone.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Article 5 of Directive 2008/50/EC includes provision for a five-yearly review of the classification of air quality across UK zones for the purpose of assessing air quality. The main source of data for this assessment is from the national monitoring network supplemented by national modelling. The classification report is currently being finalised and will be made available later this year.
	The local authority monitoring station at Neasden Lane is associated with a local industrial site and is set up for the purpose of local air quality management. It does not meet the siting criteria in the 2008 directive and does not form part of the national air quality monitoring network. Nevertheless, the Government are supporting the local authority, working with the Environment Agency and the Greater London Authority, to reduce the particulate matter (PM10) pollution in the vicinity of the site.

Air Quality

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the United Kingdom submitted plans and programmes for nitrogen dioxide for 17 zones including Greater London to the European Commission under Article 23 rather than Article 22 of Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe, due to be submitted in 2011.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Government are committed to improving air quality to protect public health and the environment. The air quality plans submitted to the Commission in September 2011 set out how the limits for nitrogen dioxide would be met in the shortest possible time. Where this date was after 2015, plans were submitted under Article 23, consistent with Commission advice.

Alcohol

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in developing their alcohol strategy, they will consider requiring licensees to offer to serve wine in 125 millilitre glasses.

Lord Henley: The Government's Alcohol Strategy, published on 23 March, sets out our intention to work with industry, through the Responsibility Deal Alcohol Network, to incentivise smaller servings by providing smaller measures as the default, and providing large measures only when specifically requested. Premises licences and club premises certificates that authorise sales of alcohol already contain a mandatory condition that still wine (when served by the glass for consumption on the premises) must be available to customers in 125 millilitre measures, and that customers are made aware of the availability of these measures.

Alcohol

Lord Willoughby de Broke: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether their proposal for minimum pricing on alcohol is compliant with European Union law.

Lord Henley: The legal advice which the Government have received on this issue is subject to legal privilege. We do not, therefore, believe it appropriate to disclose this advice (or any summary of it).
	The Government are currently in discussion with the EU Commission on this issue.

Armed Forces: Afghanistan

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average time taken for the evacuation of wounded service personnel in Afghanistan from the incident location to the nearest treatment centre.

Lord Astor of Hever: Casualties on the battlefield are normally evacuated by helicopter as it provides the fastest and most reliable method. This task is a coalition responsibility provided by UK and US aircraft.
	For the current Operation Herrick 15 deployment, between October 2011 and 5 March 2012 the average time taken to evacuate wounded UK service personnel categorised as urgent to a deployed field hospital facility was 36 minutes from the time of the casualty report being made.

Armed Forces: Aircraft

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government which companies in Israel supply them with unmanned aerial vehicles.

Lord Astor of Hever: No Israeli company directly supplies unmanned air systems (UAS) to the Ministry of Defence. The Hermes 450 UAS is operated by the British Army under a service provision contract awarded to Thales UK in 2007. Elbit Systems, a company based in Israel, provides the UAS assets to Thales UK.
	Thales UK is also the prime contractor for the Watchkeeper system, which will replace the Hermes 450. UAV Tactical Systems Ltd., a joint venture company owned by Elbit Systems and Thales, provides the Watchkeeper air vehicle under a sub-contract from Thales UK.

Armed Forces: Global Combat Ships

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure a steady workload at United Kingdom shipyards until the construction of the Type 26 global combat ship is started.

Lord Astor of Hever: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is committed to working with our industrial partners to manage the warship building workload and to transform the industrial base to create a sustainable UK maritime sector.
	The terms of business agreement (TOBA) signed between the MoD and BAE Systems Maritime-Naval Ships (BAES MNS-then BAE Systems Surface Ships) in July 2009, provides the framework for this ongoing work. Under the auspices of the TOBA, MoD and BAES MNS are working closely together to ensure that industrial transformation reflects the available workload while preserving the necessary capabilities to build, for example, the Type 26 Global Combat Ship (GCS).
	As the Type 26 GCS is still in its assessment phase, it is too early to confirm details of the planned build programme. These decisions will not be taken until the main gate investment decision point, which, on current plans, is scheduled for the middle of this decade.

Arts and Media Honours Committee

Viscount Astor: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to appoint a new chairman of the Arts and Media Honours Committee.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The current chair of the Arts and Media Honours Committee, Lord Stevenson, was appointed in 2008 for an initial three-year term. He has, by mutual agreement, remained chair of the committee beyond his initial term to provide continuity during the current period of refreshment of the committee's membership. Any future vacancy will be publicly advertised in the normal way in a timeframe yet to be agreed.

Asma Al-Assad

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government under what legal authority the European Union can refuse entry to Asma Al-Assad, as a British subject and citizen of the European Union, to the United Kingdom or any other member state of the Union.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Council Decision 2011/782/CFSP provides for the restriction on admission to the territories of member states of "persons responsible for the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria, persons benefitting from or supporting the regime, and persons associated with them". Mrs Asma Al-Assad has been sanctioned under these criteria.
	We do not routinely comment on the immigration status of individuals. In accordance with UK immigration law, any person who has British citizenship cannot be refused entry to the UK. However, British citizens subject to EU travel bans can be refused entry to other member states of the European Union.

Association of Chief Police Officers

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government what resources police authorities in England provide to support the work of the Association of Chief Police Officers, and how that resource is audited.

Lord Henley: The information requested is not held by the department. The Association of Chief Police Officers is a private limited company and is not owned or controlled by the Home Office.

Association of Chief Police Officers

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what effect elected police commissioners will have on the existence and activities of the Association of Chief Police Officers.

Lord Henley: I expect police and crime commissioners to engage with a range of policing partners in order to cut crime, both within their force area and working collaboratively across force boundaries.

Asylum Seekers

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many asylum applications were received last year; which were the top 10 countries from which asylum applicants arrived last year; how many of the total had entered the United Kingdom on a visa; what were the types of visa and numbers per type; and how many applications in the total were rejected in the first instance.

Lord Henley: The total number of asylum applications and the top 10 countries of nationality for asylum applications are shown in the table below.
	The top 10 countries from which the asylum applicants arrived are not available as they are not systematically recorded.
	Information on the visa status of those applying for asylum is not available, nor is whether the visa application had been rejected in the first instance. These figures can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
	Data on the number of asylum applications in 2011 that were refused asylum, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave (i.e. on a cohort basis) are not currently available but are due to be published in Immigration Statistics on 30 August 2012. However, the table below provides the number of initial decisions to refuse asylum, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave during 2011, which do not necessarily reflect applications made in the same period.
	Data on asylum and visa applications are available in the Asylum and Before Entry excel tables of the quarterly Immigration Statistics. The latest release of Immigration Statistics October-December 2011 is available in the Library of the House and the Home Office science website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/
	
		
			 Top 10 asylum applicant nationalities and refusals, excluding dependants, 2011 
			Number 
			   Asylum applications Total refusals of asylum/HP/DL at initial decision 
			 1 Iran 2,485 1,231 
			 2 Pakistan 2,411 1,640 
			 3 Sri Lanka 1,758 1,289 
			 4 Afghanistan 1,271 993 
			 5 Eritrea 810 243 
			 6 China 777 579 
			 7 Libya 721 483 
			 8 Nigeria 714 546 
			 9 Sudan 689 168 
			 10 Bangladesh 612 395 
			  Other Nationalities 7,556 4,281 
			  Total 19,804 11,848 
		
	
	Notes
	Data for 2011 are provisional figures.
	Total refusals information is based on initial decisions and do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same period and exclude the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.

Asylum Seekers: Children

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of the Children's Society report "I don't feel human", they will regularly collect statistics about levels of poverty among asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children.

Lord Freud: There are no plans to regularly collect statistics about levels of poverty among asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children. Information on the levels of poverty among this group is not currently available separately and it would be difficult to provide it in the future. This is because the main source of income data, the Family Resources Survey, is a snapshot sample survey of private households. This means that the sample size for households containing asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children will be very small and the cost to extend the sample to achieve a representative sample would be excessive. It may also be the case that the response rate from households containing such children will be lower than usual and therefore results may not be representative. There is also no adequate sampling frame to conduct a separate survey of poverty among asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children.
	Note that although levels of poverty in asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children are not available separately, they are currently included in the child poverty statistics unless they live in households that have been resident in the UK for less than six months or live in communal addresses such as hostels, hotels and boarding houses.

Asylum Seekers: Children

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of the Children's Society report I Don't Feel Human, they will incorporate the situation of children and young people from asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant communities into their child poverty strategy.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The Government published their first child poverty strategy in April 2011, and will publish their next one in 2014. The strategy covers all children who may be at risk of poverty, and notes that certain groups within society are overrepresented among families experiencing, or at risk of, relative income poverty. All unaccompanied children are entitled to support from their local authority under the Children Act regardless of their immigration status. Additionally, destitute asylum seekers who have children are supported by the UK Border Agency. This support lasts until they leave the United Kingdom or they are granted leave to remain and are therefore free to obtain work or access the mainstream benefits system.

Aviation: London Airports

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many flights were made in the past five years out of each of the four London airports; how many were passenger or freight flights; how many were transit flights; how many of the total were domestic; and how many of the total were international.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The number of flight departures at each of the London airports in the past five years, by type of flight, is given in the table below. Information on the number of transit flights at UK airports is not held centrally.
	
		
			 Air transport movements departing from each London airport, 2007-11 
			  Thousands 
			  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 Total flight departures  
			 Gatwick 129.5 128.1 122.7 116.8 122.3 
			 Heathrow 238.0 236.7 230.2 224.7 238.2 
			 London City 38.6 42.1 33.5 30.0 30.6 
			 Luton 41.6 42.8 37.6 34.3 36.0 
			 Stansted 95.9 88.6 77.9 71.3 68.3 
			 Total 543.6 538.4 501.9 477.1 495.3 
			 Of which:  
			 Passenger flights  
			 Gatwick 129.4 128.0 122.7 116.7 122.1 
			 Heathrow 236.5 235.3 228.9 223.5 236.9 
			 London City 38.6 42.1 33.5 30.0 30.6 
			 Luton 40.2 41.5 36.7 33.5 35.2 
			 Stansted 90.7 83.4 73.0 66.5 63.5 
			 Total 535.4 530.1 494.7 470.3 488.3 
			 Cargo (freight) flights  
			 Gatwick 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.2 
			 Heathrow 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.3 
			 London City 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Luton 1.4 1.3 0.9 0.8 0.9 
			 Stansted 5.3 5.3 5.0 4.7 4.8 
			 Total 8.2 8.2 7.2 6.8 7.0 
			 Domestic flights  
			 Gatwick 24.8 24.5 24.4 24.1 22.8 
			 Heathrow 29.9 30.6 26.3 23.6 23.0 
			 London City 10.1 9.1 8.0 6.8 5.9 
			 Luton 6.9 6.5 5.8 4.6 4.9 
			 Stansted 14.2 13.3 10.6 9.6 8.2 
			 Total 85.9 84.1 75.1 68.7 64.8 
			 International flights  
			 Gatwick 104.6 103.6 98.3 92.7 99.5 
			 Heathrow 208.1 206.2 203.9 201.1 215.2 
			 London City 28.5 32.9 25.5 23.2 24.6 
			 Luton 34.7 36.3 31.8 29.7 31.1 
			 Stansted 81.7 75.3 67.4 61.6 60.1 
			 Total 457.7 454.3 426.8 408.4 430.5

Bahrain

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Howell of Guildford on 21 March (WA 165), whether they will now raise the case of Dr Al Singace and his medical care with the Bahraini authorities; and, if not, why not.

Lord Howell of Guildford: I refer the noble Lord to the Answer I gave on 21 March (Official Report, WA 165). While all cases are individual, there are a number of pending cases which bear comparison with Mr Al Singace's and so we have not raised his individual case specifically.
	We do raise specific cases with the Bahraini authorities, including together with European Union colleagues, where we think it is necessary and appropriate on humanitarian grounds. We maintain that everyone, whether they took part in any political protests or not, should have access to the medical treatment they need when in custody. As we have said previously, we expect the Government of Bahrain to meet all their human rights obligations by ensuring their citizens can exercise the universal human rights and freedoms to which they are entitled and which they have committed to uphold.

Banking: Barclays Bank

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Barclay's corporate survey of companies.

Baroness Wilcox: The Government are aware of this survey and routinely consider evidence from a wide range of sources.

Banking: Coutts

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will be responsible for paying the fine imposed by the Financial Services Authority on Coutts, owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, and what measures will be taken against the directors of that bank.

Lord Sassoon: The Government's shareholding in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is managed on a commercial and arm's-length basis by UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI), a company which is wholly owned by the Government.
	RBS retains its own independent board and management team to manage itself commercially without interference from shareholders, including the Government. Accordingly, the bank itself will be responsible for paying the fine imposed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on its subsidiary Coutts.
	Action against directors of the bank is a matter for the FSA.

Banks: Credit and Debit Cards

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take to end surcharges on credit or debit card transactions.

Baroness Wilcox: On 23 December 2011, the Government announced their intention to consult on implementing the payment surcharges provision of the Consumer Rights Directive (CRD) ahead of the June 2014 deadline. This provision will not impose a total ban on payment surcharges for credit or debit card transactions. Instead, for contracts within scope of the CRD, it prohibits traders from adding payment surcharges which exceed the cost borne by them for accepting that means of payment.
	We intend to issue a consultation document this spring to seek views on the timing of implementation among other issues. Responses to that consultation will inform our subsequent action.

Banks: London Interbank Offered Rate

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of proposals for tighter controls over the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor).

Lord Sassoon: The setting of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is not a regulated activity under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The methods used to calculate LIBOR are publicly available, as are the data made available by contributor banks. The process is regularly reviewed by market participants.
	The British Bankers' Association is consulting on the future operation of LIBOR.

BBC: World Service Trust

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Northover on 15 March (WA 87), whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the full proposal for the grant of £90 million, submitted to the Department for International Development by BBC Media Action on 8 July 2011; and whether they will publish any associated correspondence between the department and the BBC on this matter in 2011.

Baroness Northover: The full proposal for the grant of £90 million from BBC Media Action was deposited in the Library of the House on the 23 February 2012. The outcome of the proposal appraisal and discussions with the BBC were written up in the business case, which was also deposited in the Library of the House on the 23 February 2012.

Belarus

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made as to the use of (1) capital punishment and (2) torture, in Belarus.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Belarus's use of the death penalty has declined over recent years. Belarus is one of the top five priority countries in the Government's Strategy for Abolition of the Death Penalty. We therefore raise the issue with the Belarusian authorities on a regular basis, both in multilateral fora and bilaterally.
	On 7 December, we secured a rare statement from the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe condemning the sentencing to death of two Belarusian citizens for carrying out bomb attacks on the Minsk Metro in April 2011. Many international observers had serious concerns about the conduct of the trial. Most recently, on 2 February, senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials told the Belarusian Ambassador of their concern at the sentencing. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), also wrote to the Belarusian Foreign Minister on the same day in his capacity as chair of the Committee of Ministers to urge the authorities not to carry out the executions.
	The two individuals-Dzmitry Kanavalaw and Uladzislaw Kavalyow-were executed on 14 March, unusually soon after sentencing and without their families being informed in advance. On 22 March, we secured another statement by the Committee of Ministers, which comprises all 47 member states of the Council of Europe, deploring the executions and urging Belarus to declare a formal moratorium of the death penalty as a first step towards abolition.
	We have received credible reports that a number of detainees have been subjected to torture and inhumane treatment in Belarusian jails. Two ex-presidential candidates, Ales Mikhalevich and Andrei Sannikov, have made public assertions that they were tortured. While human rights organisations have often cited poor standards of treatment in Belarusian prisons, it appears that political prisoners have been targeted. The Minister for Europe, my right honourable friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington) expressed his concern about this in a public statement on 28 September 2011 and we raise the issue regularly in bilateral contacts in London and Minsk. Unfortunately, Belarus has not adopted any of the international legal instruments which would make it possible for a formal monitoring mission from an appropriate multilateral organisation such as the United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe or the Council of Europe.

Belarus

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made as to the position of Andrei Sannikov and Ales Bialiatski, who have been imprisoned since the 2010 elections in Belarus.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We and our European Union (EU) partners recognise both Andrei Sannikov and Ales Bialiatski as political prisoners. Andrei Sannikov stood in the flawed 19 December 2010 presidential election and was arrested on trumped-up charges during the brutal crackdown that followed. On 12 March 2011, he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for "organising or participating in a mass riot". Since then, he has been regularly denied access to legal representation and we have received credible reports that he has been subject to mistreatment and torture. The Minister for Europe, my right honourable friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), expressed his deep concern at these reports on 28 September 2011. We also raise Mr Sannikov's case regularly in bilateral contacts in London and Minsk.
	On 23 November 2011, Ales Bialiatski, chair of the respected human rights organisation Viasna and vice-president of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), was sentenced to four and a half years' imprisonment in the harshest category of prison on what the UK and its EU partners consider an ungrounded charge of "tax evasion on a large scale". We see this as another example of an attack against an individual based on their role as a human rights defender. Mr Lidington publicly condemned the conviction on 24 November 2011.
	At the March Foreign Affairs Council, the EU agreed further targeted economic measures against the financiers of the Belarusian regime. We have made clear to the authorities in Minsk on a number of occasions that they must release and rehabilitate all political prisoners immediately. Until they do so, the UK will continue to press for the EU to introduce further sanctions.

Belarus

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last raised the issue of human rights in Belarus with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Europe.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK, with our European Union partners, raises the issue of human rights in Belarus on a regular basis in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In 2011, the UK and 13 other OSCE states supported invoking the Moscow Mechanism, which triggered an independent fact-finding mission to review the human rights situation in Belarus. Although the Belarusian Government refused to co-operate with the OSCE, the result was a comprehensive report covering serious, gross and systematic human rights violations. On 29 March, the UK strongly supported a statement made on behalf of the European Union, which underlined our serious concerns about the situation in Belarus and called for the immediate release and rehabilitation of political prisoners.
	The UK also secured two statements by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in our role as chair. The first was on 7 December 2011 condemning the sentencing of two Belarusian citizens to death. The second was on 22 March 2012 deploring the execution of the two individuals. Both statements were agreed by all 47 member states of the Council of Europe.

Benefits

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they have spent in the 2011-12 financial year on promoting the take-up of welfare benefits by those entitled to them; and how much they plan to spend in the next financial year.

Lord Freud: The department does not promote benefits; we provide advice, support and guidance to claimants on the benefits they may be entitled to and how to claim these benefits through front-line services and through printed and online information. The department has not spent money in the 2011-12 financial year on promoting the take-up of welfare benefits, and we have no planned expenditure to promote take-up of welfare benefits for the next financial year.

Broadcasting: Television Licences

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord McNally on 15 March (WA 88), how many prosecutions for television licence fee evasion were lodged and then withdrawn in 2009 and 2010; what was the estimated cost of the prosecutions proceeded with in those two years; and whether they will consider requiring the BBC to pay for any court and prosecution costs involved.

Lord McNally: The number of persons proceeded against for television licence evasion at magistrates' courts in England and Wales whose case was subsequently withdrawn was 17,984 in 2009 and 21,994 in 2010.
	Data collected centrally by the Ministry of Justice and held on the Court Proceedings Database do not include information on the cost of proceedings.
	There are no plans to require the BBC to contribute towards court and prosecution costs. Under the terms of the current licence fee settlement, the Government committed to no new financial requirements or fresh obligations of any kind being placed on the BBC and/or licence fee revenue except by mutual agreement.
	Annual court proceedings data for 2011 are planned for publication in May 2012.

Burma

Baroness Cox: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make representations to the Government of Burma about granting citizenship status to the Rohingya ethnic national people.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Our ambassador in Rangoon raises regularly the ongoing discrimination of the Rohingya with the Burmese Government, including most recently with the Home Minister. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) urged the Burmese Government to recognise the full citizenship rights of the Rohingya when he met his counterpart during his visit in January.
	We regularly talk to Rohingya groups both inside and outside the country to monitor their situation, and are in contact on the ground with UNHCR (the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). We will continue to raise this with the Burmese Government and to discuss with international partners.

Burma

Baroness Cox: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the countries providing investment and aid to Burma to ensure that the ethnic national peoples of Burma receive adequate compensation for any resulting loss of land or livelihood, and to ensure that any negative impacts on those peoples and the environment are minimised.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We believe that any investment in Burma should be responsible and take account of the local people and environment, so that the positive effects of that investment will be felt across Burma. Our policy currently discourages trade with Burma. However if that were to change in response to future progress, we would expect UK companies to lead the way in terms of responsible investment and to encourage others to invest in the same way. We are also ready to work with the Burmese Government to help them implement international guidelines on responsible investment.
	We are committed to working with other development partners to support efforts to build peace in ethnic areas and to ensure that development assistance reaches those most in need.
	Our hope for Burma is that it will become a peaceful, prosperous and democratic country in which all citizens have increased access to economic opportunities, healthcare and education.

Children: Conflict Situations

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what evaluation they have made of the statement made by Baroness Ashton of Upholland on 19 March regarding the deaths of children in conflict situations.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We note Baroness Ashton's remarks and that her office has since issued a clarification.
	It is right that Baroness Ashton addresses the issue of violence against children, wherever that may occur. The European Union has for many years been engaged in action on protecting children and children's rights, as well as addressing specific issues such as violence against children and children affected by armed conflicts.

Children: Conflict Situations

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel following the condemnation by Prime Minister Netanyahu of Baroness Ashton of Upholland's statement on 19 March regarding the deaths of children in conflict situations.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Officials at our Embassy in Tel Aviv have discussed this issue with the Israeli authorities, including Deputy National Security Adviser Lerman in the week beginning 18 March. The Israeli Government have confirmed that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has spoken to Baroness Ashton about her comments. We note that her office has since issued a clarification.

Children: Parenting

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of their response to the Norgrove Family Justice review, they will consider introducing legislation to ensure that childcare providers and statutory bodies treat both parents of a child equally.

Lord Hill of Oareford: We strongly believe that mothers and fathers, working together, are the best people to make arrangements about their children's lives. We are putting children at the heart of the process, so that their needs are the paramount concern in all family law proceedings.
	The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) came into force in September 2008 and is clear that all providers have a responsibility to ensure that diversity of individuals and communities is valued and respected and that no child or family is discriminated against. The reformed EYFS, which will come into force in September 2012, will provide similar assurances. It will also make clear that providers must have the name and address of every parent and carer who is known to the provider (and information about any other person who has parental responsibility for the child) and which parent(s) or carer(s) the child normally lives with.
	Maintained schools should, wherever possible, ensure that they record the contact details of both parents, even when a parent no longer lives with the child. This is not a matter left to the discretion of individual schools. Under relevant education legislation, parents (including those with parental responsibility or who have care of the child) must receive specified statutory information about their child.
	We also intend to introduce into the Children Act 1989 a legislative statement of the importance of children having a relationship with both their parents after separation, where that is safe and in the child's best interests.

Children: Safeguarding Children

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to amend the report Working Together to Safeguard Children: A Guide to Inter-agency Working to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children to include specific reference to circumstances where a child is being deprived of a full and continuing relationship with one of his or her parents.

Lord Hill of Oareford: In our response to the recent Family Justice Review, we announced our intention to introduce a legislative statement on the importance of children having a continuing relationship with both their parents after separation, where it is safe and in the child's best interests. This change will affect only the minority of separated parents who apply to the courts to resolve disputes about child contact and residence. However, it complements wider measures aimed at promoting the positive involvement of both parents, post separation.
	The statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children, which will be subject to full formal consultation from May this year, will set out the legal requirements on statutory partners to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
	Through revisions to the guidance we are exploring how best to reduce central prescription to give local areas more freedom. Our aim is to free social workers and other professionals from unnecessary bureaucracy so they have more time for better quality work with children and families. It is not appropriate for the revised guidance to try and cover every eventuality, or act as practitioner's handbook. We must start from the underlining principle that skilled professionals will be trusted to use their own judgment when assessing the needs of individual children.

China

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of Tibetans who have self-immolated in the last 12 months; what reports they have received regarding the self-immolation of a youth in Delhi on 26 March; and what discussions they have had with the Government of China regarding the situation of the Tibetan people.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Since 16 March 2011 there have been 21 immolations confirmed by the Chinese state media.
	We have also seen reports about Jamphel Yeshi, who self-immolated at a protest in New Delhi on 26 March and died on 28 March.
	I raised our concerns about the situation in Tibet with the Deputy Party Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Hao Peng, on 7 December.
	The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my honourable friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Mr Browne) raised concerns about self-immolations with Vice Foreign Minister Madame Fu Ying during his visit to China in November last year. Mr Browne also wrote to the Chinese Ambassador regarding the situation at Kirti Monastery and called for restraint. He made a statement on 25 January following reports of shootings of protesters in Tibetan areas, calling for restraint, and for a resolution of underlying grievances.
	Officials in London have also raised their concerns with the Chinese Embassy in London, and staff at our Embassy in Beijing with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant provincial authorities. Our officials in China make regular visits to Tibetan areas. We remain in frequent contact with the relevant authorities regarding access to these areas.
	This issue was also discussed at the annual UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in January.

Civil Service: Staff

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how HM Treasury defines bonus payments in the context of Civil Service pay; what proportion of civil servants are eligible to receive non-consolidated performance payments; and how they are selected for those payments.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Non-consolidated performance-related payments (NCPRP) are one-off, non-pensionable awards that are primarily used to reward individuals for high performance against annual business objectives. Since May 2010, NCPRP for senior civil servants has been cut back. This has been achieved by reducing the number of people who receive awards from 65% to 25% of senior civil servants, so that only those who have given exceptional performance over the year are rewarded. This has delivered savings of around £15 million. Departments and agencies are responsible for determining which of their senior staff should receive such rewards against criteria set by the Cabinet Office. Non-senior staff are covered by delegated pay arrangements and the proportion of staff receiving such awards and the eligibility criteria for NCPRP are matters for each department and agency. Further information on NCPRP was published on departmental websites and linked to data.gov.uk in October 2011.

Claims Management Companies

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what and how many actions they have taken against claims management companies that have breached rules in respect of dealing with consumers fairly and properly in each year since 2005 up until the last year for which records are available.

Lord McNally: The Ministry of Justice's Claims Management Regulation Unit has taken a range of enforcement actions against claims management companies that have breached the conduct rules to which they are subject. These include informal actions such as warnings and statutory actions to vary licence conditions and suspend or cancel licences. The statistical information which is available is in the table. Regulation was introduced in 2007.
	
		
			 Enforcement action 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Cancellations 1 89 35 349 290 
			 Suspensions 0 58 9 10 5 
			 Variations 0 0 2 10 7 
			 Warnings 21 16 16 53 140

Communications: Fibre Optic Cable

Lord Inglewood: To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of United Kingdom households are more than one kilometre from the path of a fibre optic cable.

Lord De Mauley: While we do not hold this specific information, BT and Virgin Media's commercial superfast broadband deployments will typically take fibre to within 1 kilometre of 66 per cent of UK households. BT is upgrading its network using a combination of Fibre To The Cabinet (FTTC) and Fibre To The Home (FTTH) with the aim of reaching two-thirds of the UK by the end of 2014. This will bring fibre to within an average distance of 450 yards of UK premises passed. Virgin's network, which is based on FTTC and coaxial cable to the home, covers around 50 per cent of the population. A number of other smaller providers are also deploying FTTH networks. This commercial activity will be supplemented by the Government's investment of £530 million to support rural broadband deployment, in areas the market will not reach, which will contribute to the further expansion of fibre deployment throughout the UK.

Community Organisers

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they spent on the community organisers programme in 2010-11, what is the expected cost in 2011-12 and what is their anticipated budget in each of the next three years; and in each of these years what are the amounts spent or budgeted for (1) direct government spending, (2) administrative costs for work done by locality, (3) training costs incurred by RE:generate (Action to Regenerate Community Trust) and other bodies, (4) payments to community organisers, and (5) other costs.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Government awarded Locality a £16 million contract to train and recruit 5,000 community organisers by March 2015.
	£10 million, of the £16 million, is set aside to cover a bursary of £20,000 to train each of the 500 Senior community organisers for the first year. The remaining costs can be broken down as follows and do not include VAT:
	
		
			  2010-11 (paid) 2011-12 (expected) 2012-13 (projected) 2013-14 (projected) 2014-15 (projected) 
			 Programme Costs £87,065 £687,750 £776,298 £762,250 £738,690 
			 Hosting Costs £0 £224,100 £196,800 £181,400 £124,200 
			 Training Costs £0 £235,350 £313,800 £313,800 £235,350

Community Organisers

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria they have set out for the recruitment of senior or trainee community organisers; and whether those posts will be advertised by (1) publications, (2) the internet, (3) jobcentres, (4) directly to national and local voluntary and volunteer organisations, or (5) other means.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The recruitment of senior community organisers is run by individual host organisations in their local areas as well as directly by Locality. Host organisations and Locality use a range of methods to recruit the most suitable candidates for the posts. Government do not dictate what these are.

Community Organisers

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions have taken place between the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Local Government Association in relation to the role and activities of community organisers, particularly in respect of the relationships between local residents and elected local authorities at parish and principal council levels, and with elected councillors for the areas in which they are working.

Baroness Hanham: As outlined in the answer to the noble Lord of 27 March 2012 (Official Report, col. 229WA) the Government are committed to training 5,000 community organisers by March 2015.
	My department has had no specific conversations with the Local Government Association in relation to this role.
	The community organisers initiative is about promoting community action at a neighbourhood level. They will undoubtedly work closely with local councillors and local authorities. We do not intend to prescribe a central approach on such joint working.

Community Organisers

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what role they expect the community organisers Programme to carry out in the implementation of, and actions under, the Localism Act 2011, including but not restricted to Part 1 Chapter 1, Part 5 Chapters 2 and 3, and Part 6 Chapters 2, 3 and 4.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Community Organisers programme is about catalysing community action at a neighbourhood level-'igniting the impulse to act'. The Root Solution Listening Matters process enables community organisers to get to the root causes of issues, identify local leaders, projects and opportunities, and empower the local community to improve their local area. The work of the organisers is independent of government, local authorities and charities, with local people setting the priorities and projects to take forward. The organiser enables them to take action on the things that matter most to them.
	Community organisers will support their communities to take advantage of rights under the Localism Act 2011 if that is what the local community wants to do.

Community Organisers

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the breakdown of the persons who have so far been appointed as senior or trainee community organisers on the basis of (1) gender, (2) ethnicity and (3) age, (a) under 20, (b) 20-30, (c) 30-40, (d) 40-50, (e) 50-60, and (f) over 60.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The information below sets out the diversity statistics of the current 84 of the 87 senior community organisers by gender, ethnicity and age. Three organisers chose not to disclose their details. Of those who did disclose, the breakdown is as follows:
	Gender:
	Male: 35%
	Female: 65%
	Ethnicity:
	White British: 58%
	White Irish: 4%
	White Other: 2%
	Mixed White/Black Caribbean: 2%
	Mixed White/Black African: 1%
	Mixed White/Asian: 1%
	Other Mixed: 4%
	Indian: 1%
	Pakistani: 4%
	African: 10%
	Other black: 5%
	Chinese: 1%
	Not Given: 7%
	Age:
	(a) Under 20: 0%
	(b) 20-30: 27%
	(c) 30-40: 31%
	(d) 40-50: 30%
	(e) 50-60: 10%
	(f) over 60: 1%

Community Organisers

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether persons in receipt respectively of (1) jobseeker's allowance (or its successor as part of the universal credit), (2) invalidity benefits including disability living allowance and personal independence payments, and (3) any similar benefits, will be allowed to undertake activities as part-time voluntary community organisers.

Lord De Mauley: People of working age who are in receipt of jobseeker's allowance, income support or employment and support allowance may undertake unlimited voluntary work provided they continue to meet the normal benefit entitlement conditions. We expect to take a similar approach in universal credit.
	Disability living allowance is available to those who are in or out of work, including voluntary work, as long as the entitlement conditions continue to be met. This will also be the case for personal independence payment.

Community Organisers

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government in what ways in "developing and supporting networks of volunteer community activists in listening, research, planning and action in their communities", as set out in the job description for trainee community organisers, community organisers are expected to take account of established local and voluntary bodies, and existing networks and organisations of community activists; and whether they are expected to build relationships and work with such existing bodies and networks, or to set up new and separate structures which may be based more closely on Root Solution Listening Matters; and if the former, whether they will be expected to convert existing groups and activists to, and train them in, the Root Solution Listening Matters methodology.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Community organisers are required to carry out listenings in their local areas. Listenings can be with neighbours, local businesses, and existing local groups and organisations. Through this process they build up a rich picture of the views of the local community. Community organisers, based on their listenings, will work with the existing structures where appropriate, but will also support local communities to set up new structures if this is required.
	Community organisers are trained in the Root Solution Listening Matters approach but there is no expectation that they convert existing groups and activists to, and train them in, the Root Solution Listening Matters methodology.

Community Organisers

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their definition of "Alinsky-style citizen organising", as mentioned in the job description provided to people who may wish to apply to become trainee community organisers.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The job description for trainee or senior community organisers refers to a range of "Go Deeper" learning options which organisers take up during the second six months of their year-long training programme. This element of the programme provides the opportunity to specialise in a specific form of organising such as digital organising or citizen organising. At the time of publishing the job description, Locality were in discussions with Citizens UK about an option based on Saul Alinsky's model of citizen organising, an approach adopted by Citizens UK. However, both parties agreed to not pursue this.

Creative Industries

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the value of the creative industries to the United Kingdom economy was downgraded in the most recently published economic statistics.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, Director General for the Office for National Statistics, to Lord Clement-Jones, dated March 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking why the value of the creative industries to the United Kingdom economy was downgraded in the most recently published economic statistics (HL16610).
	The creative industry (specifically Standard Industrial Classification 90 and its sub-components) was affected by the move from SIC 2003 to SIC 2007 at the time of publishing the United Kingdom National Accounts-Blue Book 2011.
	To give the classification change some context, industries such as motion picture production and distribution, and radio and television broadcasting are no longer classed as part of Creative arts and entertainment. They, along with many of the other sub-components previously included in Creative arts and entertainment are now classified as industries in their own right. For example, under SIC 2007, Motion picture, video and television is classed as SIC 2007 59, but was previously included within Arts, entertainment and recreation (SIC 2003 92).
	The changes are shown in Table 1.
	Table 1
	SIC 2003
	Industry 92 (Recreational, cultural and sporting activities) had a weight of 27.3 (parts per thousand)
	The list below details exactly what was included within industry 92 before the move to SIC 2007:
	
		
			 SIC Description Weight 
			 92.1 Motion picture and video activities 4.1 
			 92.2 Radio and television activities 5.7 
			 92.31 Artistic and literary creation and interpretation 2.7 
			 92.32-4 Other entertainment activities 1.3 
			 92.4 News agency activities 1.2 
			 92.5m Library, archives, museums, other cultural acts. (mkt) 0.3 
			 92.6nm Sporting and other recreational activities (non-mkt) 1.8 
			 92.6/72m Sporting and other recreational activities (mkt) 5.9 
			 92.71 Gambling and betting activities 4.3 
			  Total 27.3 
		
	
	SIC 2007
	Since the move to SIC 2007 at Blue Book 2011, the components of 92 have been split out as two-digit SIC5 in their own right.
	The list below details the change in Structure:
	
		
			 SIC Description Weight 
			 58 Publishing* 8.1 
			 59 Motion picture, video and television 3.8 
			 60 Programming and broadcasting 4.8 
			 90 Creative, arts and entertainment activities 1.9 
			 91 Libraries, archives, museums and other cult. acts. 2.7 
			 92 Gambling and betting activities 4 
			 93 Sports activities and amusement and recreation acts. 6.6 
			  Total 31.9 
		
	
	* Note: a large part of this industry was previously included within the Production Sector.

Crown Prosecution Service

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Tankerness on 19 March (WA 128) concerning gender balance in the Crown Prosecution Service, what action they are taking to recruit men to the service.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: The Crown Prosecution Service recruits staff on the basis of merit through fair and open competition and has no plans to favour the recruitment of one sex over the other.

Cuba

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the state of political and press freedoms in Cuba.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We recognise and welcome the positive steps made by the Cuban government over the past year in the area of political and economic freedoms. These include the release of all the remaining prisoners of conscience arrested during the 'Black Spring' in 2003; the ongoing economic reform process, which is leading to greater economic freedoms, and increasing religious tolerance, most clearly demonstrated by the Pope's recent visit. We also welcome Cuba's continuing strong record on child rights, gender equality and social rights such as universal healthcare and education. President Raul Castro has signalled the introduction of future limits on political terms, and a separation of the Communist Party from the state. He has also called for greater democracy in the Communist Party. Although genuine political reform remains a long way off, these would be welcome developments and positive signals of greater political opening.
	However, we are concerned about continuing restrictions of Cubans' civil and political rights, in particular the lack of freedom of association, freedom of expression, freedom of information, and judicial independence. There is no legal right to strike and independent trade unions are not permitted. Public demonstrations are banned, and short-term detentions are used to prevent demonstrations and intimidate activists from expressing anti-government views. There is no separation of powers and independent lawyers are not permitted to practice. Cuba's record on media freedom is poor and it was ranked 166 out of 178 in the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index in 2011. Although internet censorship has eased slightly, there are few internet access points and using them is prohibitively expensive for the average Cuban.
	We continue to underline to the Cuban government our support for the positive process of economic reform alongside our ongoing concerns over the lack of meaningful civil and political rights.

Cyclists: Safety

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what cyclist safety requirements they consider necessary in the development of cycle hire schemes.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The provision of cycle hire schemes and the safety of any equipment is a matter for local authorities and scheme operators.
	However, the Government are taking steps to make cycling safer for everyone, whether using a hire bike or their own. For instance, we have recently announced that councils are now free to use Trixi mirrors at junctions and have also made it easier for local authorities to introduce 20 mph zones and limits more efficiently. The Department for Transport is also leading discussions at European level on improving standards for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) to help reduce accidents caused by poor visibility,
	We are also considering how to increase motorists' awareness of cyclists' issues. We have made the driving test more realistic and less predictable, and are considering how to improve training for drivers after they pass their test to help them develop their driving skills and knowledge. Every driving theory test includes six questions relating to cyclists or other vulnerable road users. We are also keen to look at how we can incorporate a greater degree of cyclist awareness in the driver certificate of professional competence for HGV drivers.

Disabled People: Personal Independence Payment

Lord Low of Dalston: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ensure that the maintenance of a home to a safe and hygienic standard is recognised in the final assessment criteria for the new personal independence payment, including the additional costs faced by some disabled people in this regard.

Lord De Mauley: Like disability living allowance, personal independence payment is designed to make a contribution towards the extra costs that disabled people face. However, we do not think it would be administratively feasible to measure the actual costs that individual disabled people incur. Such an approach would result in a subjective, inconsistent, complicated and lengthy assessment. Instead we intend to consider a proxy for these extra costs. DLA uses individuals' care and mobility needs as this proxy. In PIP we are considering an individual's ability to carry out everyday activities and participate in society.
	The PIP assessment criteria cannot and are not intended to cover all the areas of everyday activity or all the activities where disabled people face barriers or cost. Instead they are intended to, as a group, act as an overall proxy for extra cost and the impact of impairments, allowing us to identify individuals with the greatest need. We believe that the draft criteria, which have been significantly improved as a result of feedback from disabled people and disability organisations, achieve this.
	However, the assessment criteria are still being developed and we are keen to hear further views and suggestions on them. As such we are currently carrying out a formal consultation, which runs until 30 April.

Discretionary Social Fund

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what information they have provided to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) on the replacement of the discretionary social fund by local authority provision and on the potential impact on demand for the LGO's services.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have advised the Local Government Ombudsman about conducting reviews of refusals for emergency support when crisis loans are replaced by local authority provision.

Baroness Hanham: While Government do not provide advice to the independent Local Government Ombudsman, they recognise that the local replacement of the discretionary social fund may have implications for the Local Government Ombudsman services. Such issues, including the local replacement of the discretionary social fund, are discussed in the regular liaison meetings between the ombudsman and senior departmental officials.

Discretionary Social Fund

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions have taken place between the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Work and Pensions about the possible impact of the removal of the discretionary social fund on the demand for payday loans and other high-cost lending.

Baroness Wilcox: Discussions on issues of concern related to debt management take place on a frequent basis at ministerial and official level between the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Work and Pensions. These discussions have included how best to protect vulnerable consumers who use payday and other high-cost loans from detrimental practices.
	It is not accurate to say that the Social Fund is being removed. In April 2013 the discretionary elements of the Social Fund will be replaced by local provision by local authorities in England and arrangements made by the Scottish and Welsh Assembly Governments. The budgeting loan scheme will continue because this is an important buffer which protects people from turning to illegal lending. Under universal credit, the Government have committed to maintaining a simplified and modernised national system of interest-free advances, which can be accessed through the benefit system as part of the wider package of reforms, and which will be similar in nature to the existing budgeting loan scheme. The residual scheme will continue until universal credit is fully rolled out, gradually being replaced by budgeting advances. In addition the regulated parts of the Social Fund, Sure Start maternity grants, funeral payments and cold weather payments will continue.

Education: Home Schooling

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any of the Special Educational Needs pathfinder pilot local authorities have included home-educated children in the pilot; if so, which authorities, and how many children in each authority; if not, why not, and what steps they will take to address this issue.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Since the launch of the special educational needs and disability (SEND) pathfinder programme in late 2011, the 31 pathfinder local authorities and their health partners have been working in partnership with parents and carers from a wide variety of backgrounds to design and develop their approach to testing the key reforms set out in the Green Paper Support and Aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability.
	The pathfinder programme is intended to test the Green Paper reforms across the spectrum of SEND, including improving assessment and planning for children with the most complex needs who would normally receive a statement through the education, health and care plan, and improving transparency about services available locally through the introduction of a 'local offer'. It is up to pathfinders to identify and recruit their particular cohort of families locally, but we expect cohorts to include children and young people with a range of needs and in a range of settings (eg including early years provision, special schools, maintained schools, Academies and other settings which might include home educated children). We do not expect the evaluation to report on the impact of the Green Paper reforms on specific types of schooling.

Egypt

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Egypt about arrested local members of non-governmental organisations, the freezing of their funds, and the representation of women's interests in the drafting of the new constitution.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We are concerned about the recent action taken by the Egyptian authorities against non-governmental organisations (NGOs). We believe that civil society has an important role to play in ensuring a successful transition to democracy. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) raised this issue, including the treatment of NGO staff, with the Egyptian Foreign Minister when they met in London on 22 February, and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my honourable friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Mr Burt) raised our concerns about the imposition of travel bans and arrest warrants for NGO members during a telephone call with the Egyptian Foreign Minister on 13 February. We continue to encourage Egypt to introduce new legislation governing the regulation of NGO activity, and have offered help in this regard.
	Mr Burt visited Cairo from 11 to 13 March. In his meetings with the Foreign Minister and contacts in political parties he emphasised that women's participation is a key part of supporting transitions and building stability. We continue to urge the Egyptian authorities to establish the conditions for inclusive politics, and for the rights of women and minorities to be enshrined in the new constitution and in law.

Energy: Carbon Emissions

Lord Hunt of Chesterton: To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) what is their policy for the reduction of black carbon emissions, particularly from diesel engines, in the light of their policy to favour diesel engines in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions; and (2) what is the role of the Climate Change Committee in reaching a balanced policy.

Lord Marland: Black carbon is a fraction of particulate matter pollution arising from incomplete combustion. UK emissions are expected to continue to decline in the short to medium term, as a result of air pollution reduction measures already in place to address public health impacts; these are also expected to contribute to our goals on climate change. Emissions of particulate matter (including black carbon) from diesel vehicles have reduced in recent years due to more stringent EU vehicle air quality pollutant emission standards. These emissions will fall further as increasingly strict standards will force the use of wall-flow diesel particulate filters on vehicles. Furthermore, increased uptake of ultra low emission vehicles, including electric vehicles, is an important part of Government's longer term policy to reduce harmful emissions from transport, particularly in urban areas.
	A recent UNEP report set out the climate and health benefits of reducing global black carbon emissions and Government is considering what role, if any, the Climate Change Committee should have in advising on pollutants, such as black carbon, where there is emerging scientific evidence around their short-term impact on local warming.

Energy: Wind Generation

Lord Donoughue: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Marland on 15 March (WA 91-2), what information is gathered by the Department of Energy and Climate Change on (1) revenues from wind farm generation, (2) capital costs of wind farm equipment, and (3) the operating life of wind farm generation equipment, when setting the level of renewable obligation support.

Lord De Mauley: The information gathered by DECC on (1) revenues, (2) capital costs and (3) the operating life of wind farm generation is set out in the Renewables Obligation Banding Review consultation document and accompanying Impact Assessment, which can be found at http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/cons_ro_review/cons_ro_review.aspx
	The revenue assumptions used in our calculations (at page 20) included wholesale electricity prices, revenue from the sale of levy exemption certificates and ROCs (currently 1 ROC per MWh for onshore wind and 2 ROCs per MWh for offshore wind). The capital and operating costs for onshore and offshore wind come from the Arup report (also available at the website above), and are set out in Annex B (page 126) to the consultation document. The operating life of wind farms is assumed to be an average of 23 years for offshore equipment and 24 years for onshore equipment.
	The banding review consultation closed on 12 January and the Government are currently considering new evidence provided through the consultation before setting the new levels of RO support. A government response is expected to be published in the spring.

Environment: Sustainable Development

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the presumption in favour of sustainable development as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework will apply to national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty and the Broads.

Baroness Hanham: Paragraph 14 of the national planning policy framework sets out the presumption in favour of sustainable development and explains how it applies to plan-making and decisions on planning applications, including where specific policies in the framework indicate development should be restricted. Such policies include those relating to land within national parks, the Broads and areas of outstanding natural beauty.

EU: Data Protection

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will seek to ensure that any proposals for European Union regulations on data protection are compatible with the right of public access to information and the right to freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lord McNally: The UK Government will seek to ensure that the new European Commission data protection instruments strike a balance between protecting the rights of data subjects and satisfying the needs of data controllers. This means that we will seek to safeguard citizens' rights while also ensuring that businesses and the public sector can process data effectively and safely. Therefore, while we support freedom of information, there must, of course, be sufficient protection and privacy for individuals.
	The regulation, which deals with general data processing, requires member states to provide for exemptions or derogations in order to reconcile data protection with freedom of expression with respect to the processing of data for literary, artistic or journalistic purposes.

EU-Israel Association Agreement

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will seek a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on trade in the light of Israel's blockade of Gaza and continuing acceptance of illegal settlements in the West Bank.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The European Union (EU)-Israel Association Agreement is an important part of the framework governing co-operation between the EU and Israel. The agreement is reviewed annually, including application of the human rights clauses.
	Progress towards a two-state solution is a key element of the relationship between the EU and Israel. The EU has been very clear that no progress can be made on upgrading the wider EU-Israel relationship until there is substantial progress towards a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
	As a firm friend of Israel, the UK is keen to see closer ties between Israel and the international community, including the EU. We do not believe that the isolation of Israel is the way to achieve the positive steps that we would like to see. However, we support the EU's position that further upgrades in Israel's relationship with the EU would only follow progress towards peace.

European Court of Human Rights

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord McNally on 21 March (WA 169), whether, when finalising the list of candidates for the office of the United Kingdom judge at the European Court of Human Rights, they had regard to the criteria for the establishment of lists of candidates contained in the Draft Committee of Ministers' Guidelines on the selection of candidates for the post of judge at the Court, agreed by the Council of Europe's Steering Committee for Human Rights in February 2012, and in particular criteria 4 ("candidates should have knowledge of ... public international law") and 5 ("if elected, candidates should in general be able to hold office for at least half of the nine-year term before reaching 70 years of age").
	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord McNally on 21 March (WA 169), whether, when finalising the list of candidates for the office of the United Kingdom judge at the European Court of Human Rights, they had regard to the recommendation in paragraph 53 of the Explanatory Report to Protocol No. 14 to the Convention of 2005 that states "avoid proposing candidates who, in view of their age, would not be able to hold office for at least half the nine-year term before reaching the age of 70".
	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord McNally on 21 March (WA 169), whether, when finalising the list of candidates for the office of the United Kingdom judge at the European Court of Human Rights, they had regard to paragraph 8a of the preamble to the Interlaken Declaration of February 2010, calling on states to ensure "full satisfaction of the Convention's criteria for office as a judge of the Court, including knowledge of public international law".
	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord McNally on 21 March (WA 169), whether, when finalising the list of candidates for the office of the United Kingdom judge at the European Court of Human Rights, they had regard to the criterion contained in paragraph 19(ii) of Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1649 (2004), "that candidates have experience in the field of human rights".

Lord McNally: As I made clear in my Written Answer on 21 March (WA169), when finalising the list of candidates for the office of the United Kingdom judge at the European Court of Human Rights, the Government complied with all the criteria of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
	The Draft Committee of Ministers' Guidelines on the selection of candidates for the post of judge at the court have been under discussion and negotiation until very recently and were only adopted on 28 March 2012.
	Paragraph 53 of the Explanatory Report to Protocol No. 14 to the convention makes clear it was decided not to fix an additional age limit for candidates and consequently the reference to holding office for at least half the nine-year term before reaching the age of 70 is described as a general recommendation.
	With regard to paragraph 8a of the preamble to the Interlaken Declaration of February 2010, calling on states to ensure "full satisfaction of the Convention's criteria for office as a judge of the Court, including knowledge of public international law", knowledge of public international law is not included in the criteria for office in Article 21 of the convention.
	With regard to paragraph 19(ii) of Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1649 (2004), which invited Governments to ensure all candidates "have experience in the field of human rights" before submitting lists of candidates, all the applicants for the office of the United Kingdom judge at the European Court of Human Rights completed the standard Council of Europe proforma CV, which requires evidence of their "activities and experience in the field of human rights".

Finance: Initial Public Offering Listings

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to encourage a greater percentage of initial public offering (IPO) listings on the London Stock Exchange.

Lord Sassoon: The Government believe it is important to create the right environment for businesses to grow and strive to create a proportionate regulatory framework in which companies can raise capital efficiently and investors have confidence.

Firearms: Licensing

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will take action to ensure that all firearms certificates issued in the past six years are operative for a full five-year term from the date of issue.

Lord Henley: The grant or renewal of firearms certificates is a matter for the chief officer of police of the force where the applicant resides.

Firearms: Licensing

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will take action to ensure that no instructions are given to firearms administration managers by any individual or body, including the Association of Chief Police Officers, that would result in delays in the efficient administration of issuing firearms and shotgun certificates.

Lord Henley: The chief officer of police has the responsibility, under the Firearms Acts, for determining the administration and management of firearms licensing departments in their force area.

Food: Sugar

Lord Harrison: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to publish sugar reduction targets.

Earl Howe: The Government have no current plans to publish sugar reduction targets.
	On 24 March, the Government announced an initial tranche of signatories to the Responsibility Deal calorie reduction pledge, under which businesses make commitments to support and enable their customers to eat and drink fewer calories. Reducing sugar content in food and soft drinks is one of a range of actions businesses might take to help achieve this.

Gaza

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they will make to the Government of Israel in relation to the 23 members of the Al-Samouni family in Gaza killed during Operation Cast Lead.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We have consistently urged the Israeli authorities to investigate any crimes committed during Operation Cast Lead and to prosecute those responsible, and will continue to do so.

Goldman Sachs

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government what due diligence checks were carried out on Goldman Sachs, and by whom, before they were appointed to advise government departments or other publicly funded bodies.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: This information is not held centrally. It is the responsibility of individual Contracting Authorities to carry out due diligence checks.

Goldman Sachs

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Goldman Sachs are an approved bidder for government advisory contracts.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Government do not hold a list of approved bidders for government contracts and the awarding of contracts falls to individual departments according to their needs.

Government Departments: Bonuses

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Cabinet Office define bonus payments in the context of civil service pay; what proportion of civil servants are eligible to receive non-consolidated performance payments; and how they are selected for those payments.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Non-consolidated performance-related payments (NCPRP) are one-off, non-pensionable awards that are primarily used to reward individuals for high performance against annual business objectives. Since May 2010, NCPRP for senior civil servants has been cut back. This has been achieved by reducing the number of people who receive awards from 65% to 25% of senior civil servants, so that only those who have given exceptional performance over the year are rewarded. This has delivered savings of around £15 million. Departments and agencies are responsible for determining which of their senior staff should receive such rewards against criteria set by the Cabinet Office. Non-senior staff are covered by delegated pay arrangements and the proportion of staff receiving such awards and the eligibility criteria for NCPRP is a matter for each department and agency. Further information on NCPRP was published on departmental websites and linked to data.gov.uk in October 2011.

Government Departments: Opinion Polls

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the past two years, how many opinion polls have been carried out for HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs; on what issues each poll was conducted, and when; what was the cost of each poll; and how many people were polled.

Lord Sassoon: Between April 2010 and March 2012, 39 research projects involving quantitative surveys asking people or businesses about their attitudes and behaviours have been carried out for HM Revenue and Customs. A table covering the issues, timing, costs and number of interviews of each survey is below. No opinion polls were carried out by HM Treasury during the period.
	HM Revenue and Customs has been conducting similar numbers of research surveys each year for several years to collect information from individuals and businesses on attitudes and behaviour to support operational delivery and the tax policy functions of the Department and HM Treasury. HMRC research includes surveys that collect data on attitudes and views from individuals and business alongside details of their behaviour. This research helps assess the quality and efficiency of service delivery and is used to design, implement and evaluate new policies and services.
	HMRC ensures all research it undertakes provides value for money. All projects have a business case developed and go through a formal professional services commissioning request process requiring sign off at senior level. Projects are designed, commissioned and managed by research specialists in HMRC, who ensure delivery of relevant, timely and cost effective outputs.
	
		
			 HMRC Research Surveys in 2010-11 and 2011-12 including questions on opinions 
			 Issues covered by the survey When it was conducted Cost of survey Number of respondents 
			 Panel Survey of Tax Credit and Child Benefit Claimants (2010/11) Telephone: Aug - Sep 2010. Face to Face: Nov 2010 - Feb 2011. £392,700 1,945 face to face interviews, 808 telephone interviews 
			 Telephone Survey of the Panel Study of Tax Credits and Child Benefit (2011/12) Nov - Dec 2011 £68,416 1,032 telephone interviews 
			 2009 Large Business Customer Experience Survey Aug 2009 - May 2010 £169,236 1,088 large businesses 
			 Core Longitudinal Business Panel Survey Aug 2010 - Apr 2011 £135,920 1,770 large businesses 
			 Large Business Tax Opinions Survey Feb 2011 - May 2012 £88,307 1,262 large businesses 
			 Panel survey of the UK large business population (2011/12) Jul 2011 - Apr 2012 £121,536 1,665 large businesses 
			 Compliance Perceptions Survey with individuals (2010/11) Aug - Dec 2010 £86,082 2,420 individuals 
			 Compliance Perceptions Survey with individuals (2011/12) Sep 2011 - Mar 2012 £99,272 2,772 individuals 
			 Compliance Perceptions Survey with small and medium sized enterprises (2010/11) Sep - Oct 2010 £49,975 850 small and medium sized enterprises 
			 Compliance Perceptions Survey with small and medium sized enterprises (2011/12) Jan - Mar 2012 £64,680 1,124 small and medium sized enterprises 
			 Impact of campaigns on taxpayer attitudes Jan - Feb 2011 £71,150 2,000 telephone interviews with electricians 
			 HMRC Customer Survey 2008-11 (2010/11) Apr 2010 - Mar 2011 £868,000 10,000 Individuals, 8,000 small and medium sized businesses and 6,000 Tax Agents all interviewed by telephone 
			 HMRC Customer Survey 2011-15 (2011/12) Apr 2011 - Mar 2012 £681,197 7,278 Individuals, 5,400 small and medium sized businesses and 3,390 Tax Agents all interviewed by telephone. 
			 Contact Centre Customer Survey (2010/11) Sep 2010 - Mar 2011 £57,019 2,196 telephone interviews with individuals, businesses or agents 
			 Contact Centre Customer Survey (2011/12) Apr 2011 - Mar 2012 £79,763 4,400 telephone interviews with individuals, businesses or agents 
			 Child Trust Fund Evaluation - Wave 2 Feb - Mar 2010 £55,000 2,549 parents 
			 Regional Employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) Holiday Scheme Survey Jun - Nov 2010 £34,997 849 agents and 291 businesses 
			 High Net Worth Customer Survey Sep - Oct 2011 £77,572 804 agents 
			 IT, NICs and PAYE - small business behaviour and attitudes Nov 2011 - Jan 2012 £118,055 1,500 small employers 
			 Personal tax transparency - omnibus survey Feb 2012 £11,425 2,109 individuals 
			 HMRC handling of Personal Tax Complaints Apr 2010 - Mar 2011 £151,600 2,000 interviews 
			 HMRC Reputation with Personal & Business Tax Customers Nov 2010 - April 2011 £86,000 2,600 interviews 
			 Information needs of people starting work. Feb - Mar 2010 £112,000 1,179 interviews 
			 Money Laundering Regulations: research to inform policy and compliance strategies. Dec 2010 - Mar 2011 £312,000 2,200 interviews 
			 Small and Medium Size Enterprises use of and attitudes to HMRC products and services. Aug - Nov 2010 £113,750 2,500 interviews 
			 Small and Medium Size Enterprises awareness of the VAT online mandation deadline (2010/2011) Aug 2010 - Mar 2011 £8,735 500 interviews 
			 Tax credit renewals campaign tracking 2010 Feb - Aug £89,640 715 interviews 
			 Tax For Business Self Assessment Campaign Tracking 2010 Feb 2010 £55,220 309 interviews 
			 Tax For Business Self Assessment Campaign Tracking 2011 Nov 2010 - Feb 2011 £71,500 545 interviews 
			 Communications to customers dealing with a) Capital Gains Tax and b) P800 Tax Calculation Dec 2011 - Mar 2012 £45,000 916 interviews 
			 Looking at the support needs of vulnerable HMRC customers Feb - Mar 2012 £35,000 1,500 customers 
			 Real Time Information May 2011 - Mar 2012 £225,000 700 employer interviews 1,000 message testing interviews 1,800 awareness tracking interviews 
			 Self Assessment penalty awareness tracking (wave 1) Sep 2011 £9,800 1,020 interviews 
			 Self Assessment penalty awareness tracking (waves 2-5) Nov 2011 - Feb 2012 £34,450 4,452 interviews 
			 Understanding difficulties encountered by small businesses Sep - Nov 2011 £34,000 1,000 interviews 
			 Small and medium size enterprises awareness of the VAT online mandation deadline (2011/12) Aug 2011 - Mar 2012 £30,245 1,401 interviews 
			 Tax for business Self Assessment Campaign Tracking Sep 2011 - Mar 2012 £80,290 601 interviews 
			 Tax credit renewals campaign tracking Mar 2010 - Aug 2011 £49,100 712 interviews 
			 Reputation - Corporate Stakeholder Engagement Feb - Mar 2012 £50,000 100 Corporate stakeholders 50 Parliamentary stakeholders 20 Journalists

Government Departments: Opinion Polls

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the past two years, how many opinion polls have been carried out for the Cabinet Office; on what issues each poll was conducted, and when; what was the cost of each poll; and how many people were polled.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: This information is not collated centrally in the format requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Government Departments: Staff

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how HM Revenue and Customs define bonus payments in the context of Civil Service pay; what proportion of civil servants are eligible to receive non-consolidated performance payments; and how they are selected for those payments.

Lord Sassoon: HMRC operates two bonus arrangements:
	Annual performance awards
	All civil servants are eligible to receive an annual performance award.
	Performance award payments to those at grades up to the Senior Civil Service (SCS) are made where an individual is assessed as having achieved a top performance grade throughout the preceding year at their end of year appraisal.
	Performance award payments to the SCS are reviewed and decided by the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Pay Committee. The Senior Salaries Review Body set the broader framework for performance awards across the Civil Service and HMRC works within that.
	Performance awards are awarded in line with Cabinet Office policy to reward delivery of personal business objectives during the reporting year or other short-term personal contributions to wider organisational objectives.
	Recognition bonus scheme
	All civil servants, except senior civil servants, are eligible to receive a recognition bonus.
	Recognition bonuses are a reward for a visible demonstration of exceptional performance during the delivery of particularly demanding tasks, projects or situations. This is an immediate reward, outside the terms of the appraisal system.

Gulf of Guinea

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have identified the Gulf of Guinea as an area of strategic interest; and, if so, why.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Government are concerned by a worsening maritime security situation in the Gulf of Guinea, with increasing incidents of armed robbery and violent attack against international shipping and seafarers in the region. A stable maritime security situation in the region is vital to the safety of seafarers and to the UK's energy security. The Government are working with international partners, regional countries and the shipping industry to establish a Maritime Trade Information Sharing Centre to strengthen the capabilities of regional states to respond to maritime security incidents as they occur.

Health: Elderly People

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) finished consultant episodes, and (2) finished consultant episodes for males, took place for (a) colorectal excision, (b) open excision of the prostate, (c) breast excision, (d) inguinal hernia repair, and (e) abdominal aortic aneurysm aorta replacement procedures, for patients aged (i) 75-79, (ii) 80-84, (iii) 85-89, (iv) 90-94, and (v) 95 years and over, in each of the past three years for which data are available.

Earl Howe: The information is shown in the following tables:
	Total number of finished consultant episodes (FCE)1 and FCEs where the patient gender is male with main operative procedure2 as specified by patient age group for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11
	Activity in English National Health Service Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Colorectal excision  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male 
			 75-79 12,506 6,780 13,628 7,423 14,982 8,259 
			 80-84 8,456 4,276 9,060 4,704 9,659 4,888 
			 85-89 3,970 1,803 4,396 1,953 4,426 2,057 
			 90-94 604 237 694 242 886 323 
			 95 & over 105 34 110 31 77 25 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Open excision of prostate  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male 
			 75-79 283 283 271 271 263 263 
			 80-84 92 92 103 103 75 75 
			 85-89 19 19 22 22 16 16 
			 90-94 3 3 3 3 2 2 
			 95 & over - - - - 1 1 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Breast excision  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male 
			 75-79 3,001 39 3,154 49 3,213 48 
			 80-84 1,938 44 2,009 36 2,102 41 
			 85-89 891 13 995 14 995 18 
			 90-94 186 1 235 4 228 5 
			 95 & over 28  36 1 44 - 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Inguinal hernia repair  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male 
			 75-79 7,117 6,417 6,781 6,119 6,599 5,967 
			 80-84 4,845 4,297 4,722 4,164 4,548 4,010 
			 85-89 2,285 1,964 2,238 1,902 2,236 1,892 
			 90-94 428 334 500 394 511 421 
			 95 & over 69 46 78 57 _ 74 48 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Abdominal aortic aneurysm aorta replacement  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male 
			 75-79 828 673 741 620 595 493 
			 80-84 559 432 454 344 397 318 
			 85-89 161 113 133 95 134 98 
			 90-94 7 6 5 3 7 6 
			 95 & over - - - - - 1 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	1 FCE
	An FCE is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year.
	2 Main procedure
	The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (eg time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures.

Health: Elderly People

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) admissions, and (2) emergency admissions, took place for (a) colorectal excision, (b) open excision of the prostate, (c) breast excision, (d) inguinal hernia repair, and (e) abdominal aortic aneurysm aorta replacement procedures, for patients aged (i) 75-79, (ii) 80-84, (iii) 85-89, (iv) 90-94, and (v) 95 years and over, in each of the last three years for which data are available.

Earl Howe: The information is shown in the following tables:
	Total number of finished admissions episodes1 (FAEs) and FAEs where the method of admission is emergency3 where a main operative procedure2 as identified has been carried out, by age group for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11.
	Activity in English National Health Service Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Colorectal excision  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs 
			 75-79 11,600 1,106 12,673 1,077 14,104 1,143 
			 80-84 7,604 950 8,208 998 8,823 932 
			 85-89 3,458 574 3,834 614 3,894 565 
			 90-94 498 132 564 139 730 142 
			 95 & over 78 23 84 26 66 28 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Open excision of prostate  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			 Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs 
			 75-79 279 9 262 6 260 4 
			 80-84 89 2 98 3 73 2 
			 85-89 19 1 22 1 15 1 
			 90-94 3 - 3 - 2  
			 95 & over _ - - - - - 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Breast excision  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs 
			 75-79 2,993 17 3,134 11 3,202 9 
			 80-84 1,925 17 2,003 3 2,089 4 
			 85-89 879 8 979 10 987 2 
			 90-94 183 2 232 5 224 1 
			 95 & over 28 - 34 1 43 1 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Inguinal hernia repair  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs 
			 75-79 7,029 416 6,695 393 6,520 417 
			 80-84 4,758 396 4,626 434 4,467 398 
			 85-89 2,213 308 2,172 355 2,168 339 
			 90-94 413 115 468 128 491 137 
			 95 & over 67 24 72 29 69 30 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Abdominal aortic aneurysm aorta replacement  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs 
			 75-79 778 263 682 235 561 230 
			 80-84 522 208 415 192 355 179 
			 85-89 140 79 122 72 118 79 
			 90-94 7 7 2 - 5 3 
			 95 & over - - - - 1 1 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	1 FAE
	An FAE is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	2 Main procedure
	The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode.
	3 Emergency Admissions
	An emergency admission is one where the admission method is recorded as one of the following codes:
	21 Emergency - via Accident and Emergency (A&E) services, including the casualty department of the provider
	22 Emergency - via General Practitioner (GP)
	23 Emergency - via Bed Bureau, including the Central Bureau
	24 Emergency - via consultant out-patient clinic
	28 Emergency - other means, including patients who arrive via the A&E department

Health: Elderly People

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the (1) mean, and (2) median waiting time, for (a) colorectal excision, (b) open excision of the prostate, (c) breast excision, (d) inguinal hernia repair, and (e) abdominal aortic aneurysm aorta replacement procedures, for patients aged (i) 75-79, (ii) 80-84, (iii) 85-89, (iv) 90-94, and (v) 95 years and over, in each of the last three years for which data are available.

Earl Howe: The information is shown in the following tables:
	Mean and Median time waited (days) for finished admissions episodes1 with the main operative procedure2 as specified by patient age group for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11
	Activity in English National Health Service Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Colorectal excision  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Mean Median Mean Median Mean Median 
			 75-79 28 21 29 21 30 21 
			 80-84 27 20 30 21 28 21 
			 85-89 27 20 28 20 27 21 
			 90-94 27 20 31 21 32 20 
			 95 & over 30 20 32 23 28 20 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Open excision of prostate  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Mean Median Mean Median Mean Median 
			 75-79 48 35 43 31 38 29 
			 80-84 44 29 49 34 37 30 
			 85-89 62 61 76 50 55 40 
			 90-94 17 17 128 137 35 35 
			 95 & over - - - - - - 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Breast excision  
			  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11
			  Mean Median Mean Median Mean Median 
			 75-79 21 17 21 18 20 19 
			 80-84 21 19 24 19 21 20 
			 85-89 21 18 26 20 22 20 
			 90-94 21 19 22 20 22 20 
			 95 & over 22 17 19 18 22 21 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Inguinal hernia repair  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Mean Median Mean Median Mean Median 
			 75-79 63 55 66 57 68 61 
			 80-84 63 56 66 57 70 62 
			 85-89 65 54 67 56 69 61 
			 90-94 64 57 64 58 65 55 
			 95 & over 52 46 52 53 68 62 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Abdominal aortic aneurysm aorta replacement  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Mean Median Mean Median Mean Median 
			 75-79 35 26 35 25 37 27 
			 80-84 38 26 37 26 38 28 
			 85-89 29 20 81 20 39 34 
			 90-94 - - 33 33 54 54 
			 95 & over - - - - - - 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	1 FAE
	An FAE is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	2Main procedure
	The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (eg time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures.

Health: Elderly People

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) finished consultant episodes, and (2) finished consultant episodes for males, took place for (a) hip replacement, (b) knee replacement, (c) coronary artery bypass graft, (d) cochlea implant, and (e) cholecystectomy procedures for patients aged (i) 75-79, (ii) 80-84, (iii) 85-89, (iv) 90-94, and (v) 95 years and over, in each of the last three years for which data are available.

Earl Howe: The information is shown in the following tables.
	Total number of finished consultant episodes (FCE)1 and FCEs where the patient gender is male with main operative procedure2 as specified by patient age group for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11.
	Activity in English National Health Service Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Hip Replacement  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male 
			 75-79 16,880 5,894 16,866 5,974 17,386 6,260 
			 80-84 14,401 4,076 14,550 4,413 15,299 4,581 
			 85-89 11,231 2,736 11,486 2,816 11,330 2,901 
			 90-94 4,255 927 4,306 921 4,958 1,163 
			 95 & over 1,466 265 1,477 257 1,504 270 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Knee Replacement  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male 
			 75-79 13,484 5,428 12,816 5,263 13,159 5,524 
			 80-84 7,817 3,068 7,565 3,037 7,740 2,898 
			 85-89 2,763 944 2,772 1,015 2,891 1,090 
			 90-94 287 95 284 95 389 127 
			 95 & over 22 10 32 6 22 9 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Coronary artery bypass graft  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male 
			 75-79 701 444 599 397 586 364 
			 80-84 436 285 420 266 407 275 
			 85-89 131 81 129 80 128 86 
			 90-94 12 7 6 5 5 4 
			 95 & over - - - - - - 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Cochlea implant  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male 
			 75-79 33 20 35 14 32 21 
			 80-84 20 7 16 9 16 7 
			 85-89 7 5 5 3 7 1 
			 90-94 2 2 2 2 3 2 
			 95 & over - - - - - - 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Cholecystectomy  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male Total FCEs Male 
			 75-79 3,057 1,215 3,139 1,330 3,158 1,294 
			 80-84 1,321 515 1,420 581 1,425 588 
			 85-89 486 196 480 168 445 154 
			 90-94 61 23 53 16 69 •25 
			 95 & over 5 - 9 2 6 2 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	1 FCE
	An FCE is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person many have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year.
	2 Main procedure
	The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (eg time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures.

Health: Elderly People

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) admissions, and (2) emergency admissions, took place for (a) hip replacement, (b) knee replacement, (c) coronary artery bypass graft, (d) cochlea implant, and (e) cholecystectomy procedures, for patients aged (i) 75-79, (ii) 80-84, (iii) 85-89, (iv) 90-94 and, (v) 95 years and over, in each of the last three years for which data are available.

Earl Howe: The information is shown in the following tables.
	Total number of finished admissions episodes1 (FAEs) and FAEs where the method of admission is emergency3 where a main operative procedure2 as identified has been carried out, by age group for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11.
	Activity in English National Health Services Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Hip replacement  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs 
			 75-79 15,917 4,670 15,890 4,769 16,420 4,731 
			 80-84 13,054 6,435 13,215 6,546 13,960 6,649 
			 85-89 9,904 6,900 10,067 7,123 9,976 7,031 
			 90-94 3,633 3,130 3,670 3,187 4,263 3,669 
			 95 & over 1,263 1,202 1,283 1,224 1,271 1,215 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Knee replacement  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs 
			 75-79 13,382 64 12,716 61 13,075 35 
			 80-84 7,735 80 7,510 50 7,685 61 
			 85-89 2,721 37 2,736 42 2,860 45 
			 90-94 278 12 274 9 383 7 
			 95 & over 20 4 31 3 21 3 
		
	
	Source Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Coronary artery bypass graft  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs 
			 75-79 546 20 449 16 455 15 
			 80-84 322 8 303 17 304 15 
			 85-89 83 1 97 8 86 4 
			 90-94 8 - 4 1 3 - 
			 95 & over - - - - - - 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Cochlea Implant  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs 
			 75-79 33 - 35 - 32 - 
			 80-84 20 1 16 - 16 - 
			 85-89 7 - 5 - 7 - 
			 90-94 2 - 2 - 3 - 
			 95 & over - - - - - - 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Cholecystectomy  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs Total FAEs Emergency FAEs 
			 75-79 2,864 283 2,958 332 2,982 318 
			 80-84 1,194 180 1,282 186 1,302 198 
			 85-89 429 105 424 90 379 85 
			 90-94 47 22 44 19 63 24 
			 95 & over 4 2 8 3 6 4 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	1 FAE
	An FAE is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	2 Main procedure
	The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (eg time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures.
	3 Emergency Admissions
	An emergency admission is one where the admission method is recorded as one of the following codes:
	21 Emergency - via Accident and Emergency (A&E) services, including the casualty department of the provider.
	22 Emergency - via General Practitioner (GP)
	23 Emergency - via Bed Bureau, including the Central Bureau
	24 Emergency - via consultant out-patient clinic
	28 Emergency - other means, including patients who arrive via the A&E department

Health: Elderly People

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the (1) mean, and (2) median waiting time, for (a) hip replacement, (b) knee replacement, (c) coronary artery bypass graft, (d) cochlea implant, and (e) cholecystectomy procedures for patients aged (i) 75-79, (ii) 80-84, (iii) 85-89, (iv) 90-94, and (v) 95 years and over, in each of the last three years for which data are available.

Earl Howe: The information is shown in the following tables.
	Mean and median time waited (days) for finished admissions episodes1 with the main operative procedure2 as specified by patient age group for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11.
	Activity in English National Health Service Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Hip Replacement  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Mean Median Mean Median Mean Median 
			 75-79 82 73 84 74 84 78 
			 80-84 83 73 84 77 83 78 
			 85-89 83 73 84 74 82 76 
			 90-94 81 75 83 79 84 77 
			 95 & over 79 65 84 72 86 84 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Knee Replacement  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Mean Median Mean Median Mean Median 
			 75-79 87 77 88 78 89 82 
			 80-84 89 78 87 77 89 82 
			 85-89 88 79 87 79 90 85 
			 90-94 87 74 99 85 90 80 
			 95 & over 94 59 80 88 88 81 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Coronary artery bypass graft  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Mean Median Mean Median Mean Median 
			 75-79 66 59 60 54 57 47 
			 80-84 68 66 60 51 57 51 
			 85-89 64 58 60 55 61 61 
			 90-94 81 78 77 97 87 82 
			 95 & over - - - - - - 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Cochlea Implant  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Mean Median Mean Median Mean Median 
			 75-79 37 31 70 67 58 58 
			 80-84 79 61 48 41 58 55 
			 85-89 50 46 30 23 77 70 
			 90-94 35 35 17 17 27 27 
			 95 & over - - - - - - 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	
		
			 Patient Age Group Cholecystectomy  
			  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  
			  Mean Median Mean Median Mean Median 
			 75-79 68 57 71 63 76 68 
			 80-84 66 57 73 61 75 69 
			 85-89 64 52 72 62 75 63 
			 90-94 50 49 47 47 83 68 
			 95 & over 19 19 69 39 123 123 
		
	
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	1 Finished admission episodes
	An FAE is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	2 Main procedure
	The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (eg time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures.

Health: Healthcare Assistants

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they will take to ensure that healthcare assistants are adequately trained.

Earl Howe: We have commissioned Skills for Health and Skills for Care to develop, in partnership with key stakeholders, a code of conduct and minimum training standards for healthcare support workers and adult social care workers in England, which will, for the first time, set clear expectations about standards of conduct and training for these workers.
	It is, and will continue to be, for providers of National Health Service-funded services and employers to ensure staff are appropriately trained for the role they are required to perform. This requirement is underpinned by the Care Quality Commission's registration requirements.
	The new standards will inform the development of a system of assured voluntary registration for this group, which will enable employers to identify appropriately trained and qualified workers.

Health: Healthcare Assistants

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will seek assurances from employing authorities that healthcare assistants in their employ are adequately trained.

Earl Howe: It is for providers of National Health Service funded services and employers to ensure their staff are trained for the role they are required to perform. This is underpinned by the Care Quality Commission's registration requirements and associated guidance.
	The Care Quality Commission has a range of powers to enforce its registration requirements.

Health: Healthcare Assistants

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that healthcare assistants will join the proposed voluntary register.

Earl Howe: It will be a matter for each healthcare assistant to decide whether to apply to join a relevant assured voluntary register. However, being on an assured voluntary register will help them to demonstrate to potential employers that they meet minimum standards, for example around training and conduct.
	It would be open to employers to insist on using workers on an assured voluntary register and employers and providers may also wish to use the registration status of their workers to help demonstrate compliance with the Care Quality Commission's registration requirements relating to workers.

Health: Healthcare Assistants

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they will take to ensure that training programmes for healthcare assistants are adequate to ensure patient safety; and which bodies they expect to provide those programmes.

Earl Howe: We have commissioned Skills for Health and Skills for Care to develop, in partnership with key stakeholders, a code of conduct and minimum training standards for healthcare support workers and adult social care workers in England, which will, for the first time, set clear expectations about standards of conduct and training for these workers.
	We expect patient safety to be the driving principle behind the standards that Skills for Health and Skills for Care are developing. Further, the proposed voluntary register for healthcare support workers, which the standards will inform, will be reviewed three years after it has been established to ensure that it is adequate to assure patient safety.
	We will not be in a position to determine which bodies we expect to provide training for healthcare assistants until the recommended standards of training have been produced.

Health: Healthcare Assistants

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make it obligatory for hospital trusts and care homes to employ healthcare assistants only when they are entered on a voluntary register and are completing or have completed a recognised training programme.

Earl Howe: We have made it clear that, once a system of assured voluntary registration has been operational for three years, we will commission a strategic review of the relative benefits of assured voluntary registration, compared with statutory registration. As part of that review, we will also consider whether there is a case for mandating training.

Health: Osteopathy

Lord Harrison: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of including osteopathy treatment on the National Health Service.

Earl Howe: The department does not maintain a position on any particular complementary or alternative therapies, including osteopathy. It is the responsibility of local National Health Service organisations to make decisions on the commissioning and funding of such treatments, taking account of issues to do with safety, clinical and cost effectiveness and the availability of suitably qualified/regulated practitioners.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommends manual therapies, such as spinal manipulation, spinal mobilisation and massage as possible treatments for persistent lower back pain.

Health: Tuberculosis

Baroness Goudie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to secure the achievement of the millennium development goal on tuberculosis in advance of World Tuberculosis Day on 24 March.

Baroness Northover: The UK Government are committed to efforts to achieve the millennium development goal of reducing deaths from and prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) by half by 2015. Our efforts are through direct support to countries and international organisations. We work particularly through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, which is the largest single provider of international funds to fight TB. We also support co-ordinated action through the Stop TB Partnership, and we fund research, including research to develop more effective diagnostics and treatment to tackle TB.

Higher Education: Funding

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the projected revenue cost for full-time students in higher education in England up to and including undergraduate level of (1) maintenance loans, and (2) maintenance grants, for the years 2012-13 to 2014-15.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Estimates of the cost of (1) maintenance loans and (2) maintenance grants for full-time students, consistent with the impact assessment published alongside the 2011 higher education White Paper, are as follows:
	
		
			 Cost/£m 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 
			 (1) Maintenance loans (cash outlay) 3,200 3,300 3,450 
			 (2) Maintenance grants 1,350 1,450 1,500

Higher Education: Student Loans

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average amount of money repayable against a student loan on the completion of a three-year degree; what is the total sum of money borrowed so far in student loans; what is the average and total amount of interest payable on such loans; what is the maximum period of repayment of a student loan; and what is stipulated in the student loan regulations about the early repayment of student loans.

Baroness Verma: The average amount of debt owed by borrowers who take out income contingent repayment (ICR) loans is published by the Student Loans Company (SLC) in the Official Statistics release Income Contingent Repayments by Repayment Cohort and Tax Year. The most recent release was published in June 2011 and refers to financial year 2010-11 http://www.slc.co.uk/media/77960/SLCOSP022011.pdf.
	The publication contains a breakdown of the amount of debt outstanding of all ICR borrowers by repayment cohort (year the borrower became liable to repay their loan) in table 3 (iii). SLC do not hold information on whether or not borrowers completed their course. The figures in the table includes borrowers who did not complete their course, borrowers whose courses were longer or shorter than three years and borrowers who received a loan for more than one course.
	From academic years 1998-99 to 2010-11, £37.7 billion has been borrowed in income contingent repayment loans, for maintenance and tuition fees. This figure includes English domiciled students, and EU domiciled students studying in England from 2006-07 onwards, when they became eligible for tuition fee loans.
	£3.3 billion has been added in interest to student debt from financial years 1998-99 to 2010-11. It is not appropriate to express this as an average, given the number of borrowers has changed over that period.
	Under the income-contingent repayment (ICR) student loans system, any outstanding loan balances will be cancelled in the following circumstances:
	if a borrower dies; orif a borrower receives a disability benefit and because of the disability is permanently unfit for work.
	For those entering higher education (HE):
	before 1 September 2006: when the borrower reaches the age of 65; on or after 1 September 2006 but before 1 September 2012: 25 years after their statutory repayment due date (SRDD); andon or after 1 September 2012: 30 years after their SRDD.
	The Education (Student Loans) Regulations state that a borrower may repay all or any part of a student loan at any time by making direct payments to the Student Loans Company.

Higher Education: Student Loans

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the projected (a) revenue cost, and (b) resource cost, of fee loans for part-time students in higher education in England up to and including undergraduate level for the years 2012-13 to 2014-15.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Estimates of the (a) revenue cost and (b) resource cost of fee loans for part-time students, consistent with the impact assessment published alongside the 2011 higher education White Paper are as follows:
	
		
			 Fee loans for part-time students/£m 2012-12 2013-14 2014-15 
			 (a) Cash outlay/revenue cost 150 300 450 
			 (b) Resource cost 100 200 300

Higher Education: Student Loans

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what will be the (1) minimum, and (2) maximum loan, available to students aged 24 and over taking a level 3 or higher course from 2013.

Baroness Wilcox: The maximum amount of loan available will vary depending on the type of course. The Skills Funding Agency will assign a maximum public funding rate available for each type of qualification and this will determine the maximum loan available. The agency's funding rates for the 2013-14 academic year are due to be published by January 2013.
	A minimum loan amount will be set to take account of the administrative costs associated with collecting the loan through the tax system. We expect the level of the minimum to be in the region of £300 and this will be confirmed by July 2012, as part of the regulations that are laid before Parliament to introduce the loans system

Higher Education: Student Loans

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the impact assessment relating to the introduction of loans for further education students aged 24 and over will be published.

Baroness Wilcox: BIS published an interim impact assessment of the introduction of loans for further education in July last year. It is proposed to publish the final stage impact assessment in May 2012, once it has been through the Cabinet Regulatory Policy Committee approval process.

HMS "Caroline"

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to keep the historic naval vessel HMS "Caroline" at its present berth in Belfast.

Lord Astor of Hever: Discussions are continuing between the National Museum of the Royal Navy and authorities in Northern Ireland among others. An announcement will be made when a decision has been made on the future of HMS "Caroline", which I expect to be in the summer.

Housing

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they encourage the housebuilding industry to landscape the edges of, and approaches to, housing developments.

Baroness Hanham: The national planning policy framework sets out strong policies on design and makes clear that developments should be visually attractive as a result of good architecture and appropriate landscaping.

Immigration

Lord Hunt of Chesterton: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they are adapting their immigration policy to enable successful high-tech United Kingdom companies to expand in the United Kingdom rather than abroad.

Lord Henley: In reforming the immigration system, the Government has ensured that the system has the right degree of selectivity to attract those who will make the greatest economic contribution. United Kingdom-based high-tech companies continue to be able to source technical specialists and professionals from overseas through tier two of the points-based system. Leaders in the field of science and technology may also be admitted to work in the UK through the tier one (exceptional talent) route launched in August 2011 where their application is supported by an endorsing body such as the Royal Society.

Insurance

Lord Willoughby de Broke: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the effect on the United Kingdom insurance industry of the European Commission directive 2009/138/EC (Solvency II Framework).

Lord Sassoon: Solvency II is a review of insurance regulation which will create a single rulebook and single market for insurers across Europe, with the overarching aim of enhancing insurers' financial soundness so as to ensure appropriate policyholder protection.
	There are over 700 UK-based insurance firms. Of these, Solvency II will apply to about 550-600 UK-based insurance firms that will be in scope of the directive, as determined by Article 4 of the Solvency II Directive. Following Solvency II implementation, the current UK regime for insurers will continue to apply to insurers that are out of scope of Solvency II.
	A macroeconomic impact assessment was conducted as part of the HM Treasury and Financial Services Authority consultations on the transposition of Solvency II. A copy of this assessment is available on HM Treasury's public website, as Annexe A of the Solvency II Framework (Directive 2009/138/EC) Consultation at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/consult_ solvency2_framework_directive2009_138_ec.htm.

Insurance: Travel

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken to protect consumers from the practice of automatic opt-ins for insurance and other travel-related services.

Lord Sassoon: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) rules state that:
	"a firm must take reasonable steps to ensure a customer is given appropriate information about a policy in good time and in a comprehensible form so that the customer can make an informed decision about the arrangements proposed".
	The FSA has published guidance on its website in relation to online sales of travel insurance alongside holidays. This guidance confirms that purchasing insurance should be an active and informed choice, which consumers makes once they have received appropriate information on the main features of the policy including the benefits, significant exclusions and limitations and the price. They state that pre-ticking the insurance box interferes with customers' ability to make an informed decision and they do not consider that in most cases it will result in the kind of outcomes for consumers they are looking for.
	On other travel related services, the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU), agreed last year, contains provisions whereby before any contract is agreed a trader must seek the express consent of consumers to extra payments in addition to the remuneration for the trader's main contractual obligation. If the trader infers consent by using default options, which the consumer is required to reject in order to avoid the additional payment, the consumer is entitled to a refund of the extra charge. The directive will be implemented into UK law in June 2014. This provision of the directive will apply to contracts for passenger transport services.

Insurance: Travel

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take against travel companies that charge rates above actual costs for telephone helpline services.

Lord De Mauley: Travel companies operate in a competitive commercial market and have the freedom to set charges for helplines, to meet the needs of the company and their customers. There are a wide range of options available to companies in terms of tariffs, when deciding how much should be charged, to make information available to consumers through telephone helpline services.
	Numbering is an operational issue for the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Ofcom is considering how charges for services, which include helplines that often use 08 number ranges, could be more clearly set out and improved. Ofcom put forward possible changes in its consultation of 16 December 2010 (http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/simplifying-non-geo-numbers) and it will present detailed proposals in a further consultation scheduled for the beginning of April.
	Ofcom intends to overhaul the charging of freephone (0800) numbers and other non-geographic ranges, including 084/087 numbers, whether calls to them are made from a landline or a mobile telephone. The intentions set out in December 2010 included the recommendation that 0800 calls should be available for no charge from fixed and mobile and that there should be clear pricing rules for revenue sharing ranges to allow price comparison between providers and restrict the ability of companies to exploit consumer confusion.

Internet: Broadband

The Duke of Montrose: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Garden of Frognal on 26 March (WA 212), whether the successful 800 MHz licensee will receive any incentives which will not be available to all other 800 MHz licensees.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The matter raised is an operational one for the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom).
	Ofcom currently has no plans to offer any additional incentives to any winner of an 800MHz licence with a coverage obligation. However through their Mobile Infrastructure Project, the Government are investing £150 million to build new sites which all operators will have access to deploy services from, and it is intended that this infrastructure should be usable, where feasible, to bring 4G mobile broadband to rural areas.

Iran

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government under what legal authority the European Union and the Belgian-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) blocked financial transactions from Iranian banks and other financial institutions.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The European Union (EU) implemented a prohibition on the provision of specialised financial messaging services to designated entities on the basis of Council Decision 2012/152/CFSP and Regulation 267/2012 on restrictive measures against Iran. These legal acts are, respectively, based on Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union, which enables the Council to adopt decisions on geographical or thematic matters, and Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which provides for the "interruption or reduction, in part or completely, of economic and financial relations with one or more third countries". The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) and other providers are required to comply with these provisions.
	The EU has imposed tough and wide-ranging sanctions targeted at persuading Iran to desist with its proliferation-sensitive activities. The EU legal acts build on sanctions imposed against Iran by four United Nations Security Council resolutions. The Government discourage all trade with Iran and strongly support the targeting of Iranian banks and financial institutions that fund Iran's nuclear programme.

Israel

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will discuss with the Government of Israel the release of El Haj Ahmad from administrative detention.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, m y honourable friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Mr Burt) raised Israel's extensive use of administrative detention with the Israeli ambassador on 23 February, the Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister on 27 February and the Deputy Israeli Prime Minister on 19 March. Our ambassador to Israel also raised these issues with the Israeli Attorney General on 24 February.
	We continue to encourage the Israeli authorities to comply with their obligations under international law, including in their policies on detention and the treatment of Palestinian prisoners.
	Our officials in Israel have not raised this particular case with the Israeli authorities.

Israel and Palestine

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they consider that action should be taken in an international court on the expulsion of Palestinians from illegally occupied land.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We continue to encourage the Israeli authorities to comply with their obligations as an occupying power under international humanitarian law. We also urge the application of the rule of law throughout Israel and the occupied territories, and that perpetrators of crimes should be brought to justice before the Israeli courts.
	The UK currently has no plans to refer this situation to any international court.

Israel and Palestine

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel and to the Palestinian Authority about violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian residents of the West Bank.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We are deeply concerned at the increase in violence by extremist settlers against ordinary Palestinians. This violence has included burning of mosques.
	As the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my honourable friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Mr Burt) has commented publicly, we condemn such acts as deliberately provocative attacks on places of worship, designed to aggravate tensions.
	We welcome the clear condemnation of these attacks by Israeli leaders, and the stated intention of the Israeli Government to bring the perpetrators to justice. We have urged Israel to investigate all such incidents of violence and to hold those responsible to account. The package of measures announced by Prime Minister Netanyahu in response to settler violence is a welcome step forward. We look forward to seeing the results of these measures, and to seeing those behind the violence punished under law.

Israel and Palestine

The Lord Bishop of Exeter: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of whether there is state discrimination against Israel's Palestinian citizens; and, if so, what are their conclusions.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Israel's declaration of independence calls for the establishment of a Jewish state with equal social and political rights for all citizens, irrespective of religion, race or sex.
	In principle Israel's Palestinian citizens are therefore afforded the protection of equality under Israel's legal system. However, the reality is more complex, with certain in-built state and private sector mechanisms that discriminate against non-Jewish citizens.
	We are concerned by a growing climate of intolerance in Israel. This has been exacerbated by a number of proposed laws which were before the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) in 2011.
	We strongly support efforts, including by the Israeli Government, to tackle discrimination and inequality between Jews and Arabs in Israel. We continue to urge the application of Israel's declaration of independence and Israeli law to all citizens, regardless of religion or ethnicity.

Israel and Palestine

The Lord Bishop of Exeter: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel regarding restrictions that prevent access by Palestinian Muslims and Christians to certain holy sites in Israel.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK places a high importance on the right to freedom of religion for all. We remain deeply concerned about restrictions on freedom of movement between the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and elsewhere in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It remains difficult for Palestinians, including Christians and Muslims, to enter East Jerusalem or other places of pilgrimage in Israel.
	The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my honourable friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Mr Burt), visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in July 2011 and raised with Israeli authorities the difficulties faced by Christians and in particular the impact of residency restrictions in Jerusalem.
	We are also in discussion with religious leaders and other governments over finding ways to protect the holy sites of Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Israel and Palestine

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the democratic process within the Occupied Territories at the next election.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK, along with our European Union partners, fully supports the holding of free and fair elections across the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. The UK provides practical and technical support, including to the office of the quartet representative, to reinforce the prospects for peace, economic development and stability in the region.
	We are following closely the implementation of the agreement reached on 6 February 2012 between Fatah and Hamas on the formation of a technocratic government, to be led by President Abbas, to prepare for elections.
	Any technocratic government should: be composed of figures committed to the principles set by President Abbas in Cairo in May 2011; uphold the principle of non-violence; be committed to a negotiated two-state solution, and accept previous agreements of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.

Israel and Palestine: West Bank

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the United Kingdom and other European Union member states will consider imposing personal sanctions against any settler leaders in the West Bank suspected of organising attacks on Palestinians and their property.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK is concerned about reports of an increase in violence by extremist settlers during 2011.
	Along with our European partners, we are considering what further actions can be taken in response to continued Israeli settlement activity and settler violence, including the possibility of excluding from the European Union those settler leaders who are assessed as inciting violence.

Israel and Palestine: West Bank

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the two reports from European Union Heads of Mission in Jerusalem concerning the trebling in three years of attacks by settlers on the people of the West Bank; and what action they plan to take in response.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The documents to which the noble Lord refers are internal reports by the European Union Heads of Mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah, which are under consideration in Brussels. It is unfortunate that these documents have leaked. It is government policy not to comment on leaked documents.
	 Asked by

Israel and Palestine: West Bank

The Lord Bishop of Exeter: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel regarding the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) 5763, which prohibits inhabitants of the West Bank and Gaza married to Israeli citizens from acquiring Israeli residency permits or citizenship.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Whilst Israeli nationality law and immigration into Israel are matters for the Israeli government and parliament, we and European Union (EU) partners have concerns about the implications of this law for the families of Arab Israelis and, particularly, Palestinian permanent residents in East Jerusalem.
	This particularly affects those who have married, or wish to marry, Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza. In many cases the law has made it difficult or impossible for Palestinians to get permission to join their spouses or parents in East Jerusalem, which we regard as occupied territory.
	Along with our EU partners, we regularly raise issues relating to access and residency in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Israel and Palestine: West Bank

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel regarding tourism infrastructure being developed by settlers in the West Bank.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK has made frequent representations to the Israeli authorities on issues relating to house demolitions and settlement building. Our views on settlements, including in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, are clear: they are illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace and constitute a threat to a two-state solution.
	All settlement activity, including in East Jerusalem, should cease immediately. We have made clear our concerns to the Israeli authorities, both bilaterally and with European Union partners, and will continue to do so.
	During his visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories in January 2012, my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Mr Burt), saw at first hand the impact on Palestinian communities of the development of infrastructure to support illegal settlements, an issue he has raised with the Israeli government during the visit and subsequently.

Israel and Palestine: West Bank

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Government of Israel's petition to Israel's Supreme Court to construct a new settlement in the West Bank, for the evacuees from Migron; and whether they will discourage this.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Along with European Union colleagues, we are deeply concerned at the agreement recently reached between Migron settlers and the Israeli government. On Sunday 25 March, Israel's Supreme Court rejected the government's petition to allow settlers to stay until 2015. Had this deal been ratified, it would have set a dangerous precedent and runs entirely contrary to Israel's obligations under the quartet roadmap. We have raised our concerns strongly with the Israeli government, including with the Vice Prime Minister, Ministry for Foreign Affairs and National Security Adviser.

Israel and Palestine: West Bank

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will take action to ensure that solar panels and other alternative energy generators installed in West Bank villages by international non-governmental organisations are not demolished by the Government of Israel if there are not permits for them.

Baroness Northover: The UK position on the demolition of Palestinian homes and essential infrastructure, such as energy generators, in the West Bank is clear and consistent, regardless of whether these initiatives are funded by international non-governmental organisations or Palestinians themselves. Such demolitions cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians, are harmful to the peace process and, in all but the most limited circumstances, are contrary to international humanitarian law and we condemn them.
	The UK has a strong record of lobbying hard on issues relating to demolitions. The Secretary of State and Minister of State for International Development, my right honourable friends the Members for Sutton Coldfield and for Rutland and Melton (Mr Mitchell and Mr Duncan), have both visited Palestinian communities affected by demolitions in recent visits to the region. Most recently, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my honourable friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Mr Burt), raised the issue of demolitions with the Israeli ambassador on 23 February and again with Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor on 19 March. Together with our EU partners, we continue to press Israel to address our serious concerns about the restrictive planning regime in Area C of the West Bank, including the unnecessary difficulties that Palestinian and international organisations face in obtaining building permits. More fundamentally, we urge Israel to greatly accelerate the process for transferring authority over Area C to the Palestinian Authority.

Libya

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Howell of Guildford on 21 March (WA 175), after officials visited Benghazi on 25 February and raised the desecration of war graves there with the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Benghazi Chief of Police, for what reasons they were satisfied with assurances given, in the light of further desecration the next day; and why earlier public condemnation was ruled out.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The first attack took place on 24 February in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery. UK officials took immediate action, raising with the Libyan authorities in Benghazi, and then following up in Tripoli. On 26 February National Transitional Council Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil and Libyan Foreign Minister Ben Khayyal both made public statements condemning the attacks and that these locations should be respected. UK officials immediately raised this again following the news of a further attack on 26 February on the British Military Cemetery. The transitional Government responded by issuing a very clear statement on 28 February, and have been consistently supportive; they were likewise appalled by these crimes, and have taken specific actions to increase security around the sites, including placing a static guard at the gates and ensuring the cemeteries are part of regular police patrols.
	These attacks appear to have been carried out by extremist individuals. A number of religious sites in Libya have also been attacked since the revolution began, including Islamic sites.
	UK officials continue to visit the cemeteries on a regular basis and are in close contact with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to facilitate inspections and restorations.

Marine Environment: Scotland

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether responsibility for safety at sea and the avoidance of pollution around the coasts of Scotland is devolved to the Scottish Executive or is a reserved matter.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: Legislation relating to safety at sea is a reserved matter. The UK Parliament is responsible for legislating for pollution from oil and gas exploration outside of controlled waters and from ships in all waters around the UK. The Scottish Parliament is responsible for marine pollution within controlled waters from all sources other than ships.

Nanotechnology and Pictoechnology

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the development of (1) nanotechnologies, and (2) picotechnologies, in the United Kingdom.

Baroness Wilcox: Nanotechnologies (and picotechnologies incorporated within this) cover a diverse range of technologies. The Government Office for Science report Technology and Innovation Futures, published in November 2010, identified nanotechnologies as one of the key technological areas that has the potential to promote economic growth in the UK over the next 20 years. The report identified significant UK capabilities in nanotechnologies in the UK, including a world-class reputation in nanotechnologies research with a strong research base and strengths in nanotechnology standards.
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills provides funding for the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and the Research Councils UK (RCUK) to support the development of nanotechnologies in the UK and promote responsible innovation, which will provide positive impact in the areas of energy, healthcare and the environment. The UK Government have been fully engaged in activities in Brussels to consider whether the relevant EU regulatory frameworks are adequate in their application to nanotechnologies.

National Offender Manager Service: Forms

Lord Jopling: To ask Her Majesty's Government, on the form BUS_UD_PUARF, issued by the National Offender Manager Service, what is the purpose of the option on page 4 of responding "Other" to the question "gender" instead of "male" or "female"; and why there is no opportunity for applicants responding "Other" to explain the status of their gender.

Lord McNally: Form BUS_UD_PUARF is the Prison-NOMIS user account set-up authorisation form. It is completed for individual members of staff and the information gathered is used to populate users' account information on the Prison-NOMIS system.
	The version of the form containing the "male/female/other" options has now been superseded. The current version of the form (V 13, which has been in use for over a year) contains a blank text field for "gender". This text field is delimited, which means that as much or as little information as the member of staff wishes to disclose can be recorded on the form.

NHS: Private Finance Initiative Schemes

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many hospital private finance initiative projects have been undertaken without the approval, at the time the decision was made, of Monitor or the economic regulator at the time.

Earl Howe: Monitor does not approve private finance initiative (PFI) schemes. Monitor is the independent regulator of National Health Service foundation trusts, directly accountable to Parliament. In its role of ensuring that existing NHS foundation trusts comply with their terms of authorisation, Monitor will review major investment plans such as PFI proposals and provide a considered opinion to the board of the foundation trust. The great majority of PFI schemes signed to date were undertaken by NHS trusts and primary care trusts.

Nigeria

Baroness Cox: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make representations to the Government of Nigeria about ensuring adequate security for religious minorities in the Middle Belt and Northern States, following recent attacks on churches in Jos.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Government are committed to working with the Nigerian authorities in finding lasting solutions to security threats to ensure that Nigerians of all religions can live in peace. Co-operation to strengthen Nigeria's security architecture was outlined as a key element of our bilateral relationship when the Prime Minister, my right honourable friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) met President Goodluck Jonathan in July 2011; this commitment was reaffirmed when they met on 22 February 2012. The Government will continue to share expertise in counterterrorism policy, doctrine and legal frameworks. We will also continue to support programmes in Nigeria that focus on addressing grievances that underpin conflict. This work has included establishing a Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme and promoting interethnic and interfaith dialogue. In February 2012 our High Commissioner to Nigeria travelled to Plateau State, meeting with local religious and political leaders and demonstrating our support of dialogue and peace initiatives.

Non-governmental Organisations

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government which Afghan non-governmental organisations they have assisted in the last two years, either directly or through international non-governmental aid organisations.

Baroness Northover: As part of our international aid transparency guarantee, where security permits the Department for International Development (DfID) publishes the details of all partner organisations on our projects database, at http://projects.dfid.gov.uk/. However, we do not publish information about DfID's partners where the disclosure of such information poses a risk to their operations and staff on security grounds. As a result, it is not possible for us to provide full information on our non-governmental organisation partners in Afghanistan.

Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012: Olympic Truce

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has had with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about their plans for the implementation of the United Nations Resolution declaring the Olympic Truce for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has regular discussions with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) about its plans for implementing the UN Resolution on the Olympic Truce. These include informal discussions between officials as well as discussions at FCO-hosted Olympic Truce stakeholder meetings. Four of these meetings have been held since September 2011.
	The FCO is co-ordinating the Government's international response to the UN Resolution on the Olympic Truce in support of pursuing the Government's conflict prevention objectives as set out in the Government's Building Stability Overseas strategy. DCMS worked closely with the FCO in drafting the Olympic Truce resolution, which was signed by a record 193 UN member states.
	In addition, the London 2012 organising committee (LOCOG) is promoting the Olympic Truce to young people in schools and colleges through its Get Set education programme, and through community projects in their Inspire programme.
	More broadly, International Inspiration (II) is delivering on the Games bid to reach young people all over the world and connect them to the inspirational power of the Games through sport. II is now working in 20 countries across the world, and more than 12 million young people have been reached through the programme.
	DCMS will continue to work closely with the FCO in the lead up to the Games to support the Olympic Truce.

Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012: Olympic Truce

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions the Department for International Development has had with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about their plans for the implementation of the United Nations Resolution declaring the Olympic Truce for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Baroness Northover: The Department for International Development (DfID) has regular discussions with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) about its plans for implementing the UN Resolution on the Olympic Truce. These include informal discussions between officials as well as discussions at FCO-hosted Olympic Truce stakeholder meetings. Four of these meetings have been held since September 2011. The Government wish to congratulate the noble Lord on his significant contribution on this.
	The FCO is co-ordinating the Government's international response to the UN Resolution on the Olympic Truce in support of pursuing the Government's conflict prevention objectives as set out in the Government's Building Stability Overseas Strategy. DfID is scaling up its work in fragile and conflict-affected states and is committed to building peaceful states and societies. For example, DfID recently made a core contribution of £55 million (2011-12 to 2014-15) to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund, which fills a crucial gap in the international system to stop countries returning to conflict. The Olympic Truce provides an important opportunity to promote peace and stability overseas. DfID will continue to work closely with the FCO in the lead-up to the Olympics to support the Olympic Truce.

Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012: Olympic Truce

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions the Northern Ireland Office has had with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about their plans for the implementation of the United Nations Resolution declaring the Olympic Truce for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is co-ordinating the government international response to the UN Resolution on the Olympic Truce in support of pursuing the Government's conflict prevention objectives as set out in the Government's building stability overseas strategy.

Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012: Olympic Truce

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions the Scotland Office has had with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about their plans for the implementation of the United Nations Resolution declaring the Olympic Truce for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: There have been no discussions between the Scotland Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the implementation of the Olympic Truce.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is co-ordinating the Government's international response to the UN Resolution on the Olympic Truce in support of pursuing the Government's conflict prevention objectives as set out in the Government's Building Stability Overseas strategy. We will support the work of the FCO in delivering action together overseas wherever we can.

Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012: Olympic Truce

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions the Wales Office has had with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about their plans for the implementation of the United Nations Resolution declaring the Olympic Truce for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is co-ordinating the Government's international response to the UN Resolution on the Olympic Truce in support of pursuing the Government's conflict prevention objectives as set out in the Government's building stability overseas strategy. The Wales Office is supporting the work of the FCO through meetings with foreign delegations looking to visit Wales and building business or cultural relationships with Wales.
	The Wales Office also works with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on specific initiatives that build on the values that underpin the Games. These include the Get Set programme, the London 2012 education programme, and the Inspire programme.

Overseas Conflict: UK Involvement

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether parliamentary approval is required before United Kingdom involvement in any military conflict overseas.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: As stated in the Cabinet Manual, a convention has developed in the House of Commons that before troops are committed the House of Commons should have an opportunity to debate the matter. The Government propose to observe that convention except when there is an emergency and such action would not be appropriate.

Palestine

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs report How Dispossession Happens, what steps they will take to assist in the restoration of Palestinian access to water springs fully taken over by settlers, and regarding any intimidation from settler presence and intentions on takeover of the remaining springs.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Government remain concerned about the activity of Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, particularly violence by extremist settlers against Palestinians and religious sites, and the taking of land and resources. The UK, along with our European Union partners, is clear that settlements are illegal under international law and should be removed. We are also concerned about the provision of security and services to illegal settlements by the State of Israel, in a way that is not matched by similar provision to Palestinian communities living under occupation.
	The fair and effective distribution of shared water resources across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories is of great concern to us. These resources are limited and therefore require effective co-operation from all parties to manage them in a manner that ensures there will be enough for all.
	We have regular discussions with the Israelis and the Palestinian Authorities on the issue of access to water, including on the urgent need for Israel to ensure fairer distribution of water supplies in the West Bank and Gaza. The Minister of State for International Development, my right honourable Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Mr Duncan) raised the issue of water when he visited the region in June 2011 and the Embassy in Tel Aviv raised it with the Israeli authorities in January 2012.

Pensions

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 15 March (WS 43-4), what are the current and future employer and employee rates of contributions to ministerial pensions; what are the related Exchequer contributions; and what is the level of the liability for ministerial pensions.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The current member contributions to the Ministerial Pension Scheme vary depending on the level of benefits they receive as follows:
	
		
			 Ministerial Pension Scheme Member contribution rates: Annual rate of benefit accrual: 
			 11.9% of pay 1/40th 
			 7.9% of pay 1/50th 
			 5.9% of pay 1/60th 
		
	
	With effect from 1 April 2012, members of the Ministerial Pension Scheme will pay an additional contribution based on their level of responsibility as follows:
	
		
			 Level of responsibility: Additional contribution: 
			 Secretaries of State, the Leader of the Opposition in the Commons and Speaker in the House of Lords 2.4% of pay 
			 Ministers of State, the Government Chief Whip, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lords, the Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords and the Deputy Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords 1.6% of pay 
			 Parliamentary Under-Secretaries, the Government Whips and Opposition Whips 1% of pay 
		
	
	The Exchequer contribution to the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF) is currently 28.7% of pay, made up of 20.2% for member benefits and 8.5% for deficit reduction. The PCPF covers the pension provision for MPs and officeholders (including members of the Ministerial Pension Scheme). The Government Actuary's Department has been undertaking a valuation of the PCPF and this will be laid in the Libraries of both Houses in due course; this valuation will include a recommended Exchequer contribution and will take account of the member contribution increases in the Ministerial Pension Scheme.
	The Government Actuary's Department published the Parliamentary Pension Fund Valuation as at 1 April 2008 and the liabilities of the PCPF were £418.1 million (HC 345); this liability covers pension benefits provided to members of the MPs' Pension Scheme and officeholders (including members of the Ministerial Pension Scheme). This valuation also shows the actuarial liability for active members of officeholder schemes and deferred members of officeholder schemes who were still MPs, but does not show separately the liabilities for deferred and pensioner members for officeholders.

Pensions

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hanham on 19 March (WA 144), why, if their policy is to use the consumer prices index instead of the retail prices index as the preferred measure of prices, they have decided to revalue certain public sector superannuation scheme benefits using the retail prices index.

Baroness Hanham: The Firefighters' Pension Scheme 1992 and the New Firefighters' Pension Scheme 2006 in England provide for certain benefits to be uprated in line with the retail prices index. These are those benefits associated with additional pension benefit earned under continued professional development and the long service increment. The schemes provide for these to be uprated in line with retail prices index during an active member's accrual phase but once in payment or deferred these benefits are uprated in line with pensions increase, which is currently the consumer prices index.
	On 26 October 2011, a consultation on a proposed suite of amendments to the two firefighters' pension schemes closed. Among other proposed changes, this contained provisions to amend the uprating of additional pension benefits in the schemes during a member's active accrual phase to be in accordance with the Pensions (Increase) Act 1971. The department will respond to the outcome of this consultation shortly.

Planning

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what they mean when using the word "brownfield" in relation to planning.

Baroness Hanham: "Brownfield" is the term commonly used to describe land that has been previously developed. The National Planning Policy Framework sets out a clear definition of previously developed land for planning purposes based on case law: land which is or was occupied by a permanent structure, including the curtilage of the developed land (although it should not be assumed that the whole of the curtilage should be developed) and any associated fixed surface infrastructure. This excludes: land that is or has been occupied by agricultural or forestry buildings; land that has been developed for minerals extraction or waste disposal by landfill purposes where provision for restoration has been made through development control procedures; land in built-up areas such as private residential gardens, parks, recreation grounds and allotments; and land that was previously developed but where the remains of the permanent structure or fixed surface structure have blended into the landscape in the process of time.

Planning

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is a minimum size for a brownfield site.

Baroness Hanham: There is no minimum size for a previously developed (brownfield) site.

Police: South Wales

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will consider initiating an investigation conducted by a Supreme Court judge or judges into the collapse of the Lynette White trial and any related actions by South Wales Police.

Lord Henley: The Government have no plans to set up a judicial inquiry on this matter.

Powers of Entry

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Office, James Brokenshire, on 19 March (Official Report, Commons, col. 530) regarding the 19 applications to create or amend powers of entry which have been considered through the Home Office Gateway, for each of those what was (1) the date of application, (2) the originating department, (3) the powers sought, (4) the powers agreed, and (5) the date on which the powers came into force.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government which (1) Acts of Parliament, and (2) statutory instruments, which have introduced powers of entry, have come into force in the current Parliament, and in each case whether the powers of entry are subject to either agreement or warrant.

Lord Henley: The Home Office Gateway has dealt with 19 applications to date seeking to create, amend or re-enact powers of entry. The table below details the powers that were assessed and are now in force and the safeguards which have been provided in respect of their use. 19 powers have been repealed as part of the process. The remaining 11 Regulations containing powers of entry are still subject to Parliamentary approval. However information relating to any powers enacted during the current Parliament before the Gateway commenced are not held centrally and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Date of application Originating Department Powers requested Powers agreed Date and title of enactment Agreement/Warrant 
			 1 Mar-11 Defra Re-enact power of entry and add warrant to exclude from the food chain animal by products (ABPs) particularly those that are 'high-risk' which carry a significant risk to animals and human health A revised general power of entry that excludes domestic dwellings. Warrant added The Animal By- Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2011 Yes 
			 2 Apr-11 Defra To consolidate powers of entry under new energy labelling regulations to enforce EU Directive to improve the environmental performance of products through provision of information to consumers 15 powers repealed replaced with single power of entry. Domestic dwellings excluded. Warrant added Energy Information Regulations 2011 Yes 
			 3 May-11 DECC New power of entry to comply with the implementation of European Directive 2009/31/EC on the storage of carbon dioxide (which can be hazardous to public health / environment) as per Energy Act 2008 licensing regime New power limited to offshore inspection of industrial sites. Domestic dwellings excluded. Storage of Carbon Dioxide (Inspections etc.) Regulations 2012 N/A 
			 4 Jun-11 Defra New power needed to implement Council Regulation (EC) No 708/2007 that establishes framework governing aquaculture practices in relation to alien and locally absent species. The introduction of non-native animals and fauna must be controlled by inspection to protect wildlife and environment from harm This is a new power of entry. It excludes domestic dwelling, adds need for reasonable notice and warrant Alien and Locally Absent Species in Aquaculture (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 Yes 
			 5 Sep-11 Defra New power needed to enforce the European 'FLEGT' Regulations which make it illegal to import timber from partner countries without valid licence and to prevent illegally harvested timber products entering the UK from these countries. This is a new power of entry. It excludes domestic dwellings, adds need for reasonable notice and warrant Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Regulations 2012 Yes 
			 6 Nov-11 Defra To consolidate all existing UK wine legislation - enforce EU wine rules relating to manufacture and sale of wine products and sets out inspection and enforcement practice. 4 predecessor UK powers repealed under revised law. The power of entry excludes domestic dwellings, removes force and adds warrant Wine Regulations 2011 Yes 
			 7 Aug-11 Defra To make provision for the authorisation, manufacture, classification, distribution and administration of veterinary medicinal products and enforce European laws on the marketing, use and labelling of feed containing specified additives. Powers of entry are required to enforce the measures. Revised power of entry. The power excludes most* domestic dwellings, adds need for reasonable notice, removes force and adds warrant - *entry to licensed premises is allowed Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2011 Yes 
			 8 Jan-12 Defra To introduce revised UK Pet Travel Scheme to align rabies import requirements with those currently applied by other member states under Regulation (EC) No 998/2003. The UK must also enforce EU legislation that protect against the risk of other diseases entering the UK via pet movements: highly pathogenic avian influenza, Nipah and Hendra disease, Monkey pox virus and the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis. Revised power of entry. The power excludes domestic dwellings, removes force and adds warrant Non Commercial Movement of Pet Animals Order 2011 Yes

Qatar

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received from the Government of Qatar in the past three weeks regarding the visit of Sir David Richards to that country.

Lord Astor of Hever: The Chief of Defence Staff, Sir David Richards, visited Qatar on 27 March 2012, where he met the Qatari Chief of Staff and reaffirmed the strong relationship between the UK and Qatar. Her Majesty's Government received no representations from the Government of Qatar in the preceding three weeks regarding the visit.

Railways: Privatisation

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were employed in the United Kingdom rail industry, including Network Rail, passenger and freight train operators and their subcontractors, (1) at the time of privatisation, and (2) in 2011.

Lord De Mauley: The information is not available in the format requested. Research undertaken as part of Sir Roy McNulty's independent Rail Value for Money Study identified that employee numbers in the GB rail industry rose from 81,000 in 1996-97 to 92,000 in 2008-09. These figures relate to staff employed by Network Rail, the passenger and freight operators and open access operators.

Roads: Litter

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what has been the total expenditure of public funds by the Highways Agency on litter clearance from motorways and trunk roads in each of the last three years; and what arrangements are in place to monitor the effective use of these funds and to enforce the obligations of the contractors to keep the roads free of litter.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Section 89 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 places a duty on the Highways Agency to clear litter from motorways and a small number of trunk roads in England. The removal of litter from the majority of trunk roads in England is the responsibility of local authorities.
	Litter collection on motorways is one of the numerous duties carried out by the agency's managing agents as part of their routine maintenance function. Exact litter clearance costs cannot be extracted, as the activity is performed on both a planned and an ad hoc basis. Annually, the agency collects approximately 240,000 sacks of litter.
	The cost of collection, after allowing for overheads, traffic management to protect staff and the cost of disposal, is estimated to be £40 per sack. The annual cost to the agency therefore is about £9.6 million.
	The performance requirements for cleaning and sweeping expected of the agency's managing agents are consistent with the code of practice on litter and refuse issued under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and are set out in the agency's Network Management Manual and Routine and Winter Service Code.
	Agency route managers perform monthly audits of the environmental amenity of stretches of randomly selected agency routes.

Roads: Pedestrians

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Attlee on 20 March (WA 160), whether they will take action, through signage or other measures, to ensure (1) blind and disabled pedestrians, and (2) other pedestrians, are not put at risk by cyclists or motor vehicles when using pavements, and to ensure that cyclists and motorists are informed of the rights of pedestrians.

Lord De Mauley: The Department for Transport has no plans to take any additional action in this respect. The onus is on all road users to familiarise themselves with the rules of the Highway Codes for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including those concerning the use of pavements.

Schools: Building Schools for the Future

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the predicted and actual cost of the Building Schools for the Future programme.

Lord Hill of Oareford: In May 2009 the Public Accounts Committee (Twenty-seventh Report of Session 2008-09 HC 274 11 June 2009) reported the Department for Children, Schools and Families estimate of the overall cost of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme to be £52 billion to £55 billion over its lifetime.
	The BSF programme was halted in July 2010. To date a total of £5.2 billion of conventional capital support has been provided, and £5.1 billion in PFI credits have been allocated. It is expected that a further £1.1 billion of capital grant will be paid out over the next three years to complete the remaining projects.

Schools: Special Educational Needs

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hill of Oareford on 16 March (WA 124), what amount of funding was allocated and distributed to special educational needs co-ordinators to undertake qualifications in special educational needs in the three years up to March 2012; and how that funding was allocated regionally.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Since September 2009 the Department for Education has provided funding to the Training and Development Agency for schools (TDA) to provide up to 9,000 training places for the national SENCO award.
	Over £28.2 million has been committed to deliver 8,806 training places across England up until the end of March 2012.
	The TDA, through an open tender process, commissioned 26 training providers, mainly universities, to deliver the training. One of the main objectives in approving providers was to ensure, as far as possible, equality of access across England. Training providers are able to work with a range of local authorities to deliver the training.
	Distance learning provision is also available to ensure that SENCOs are not disadvantaged where they do not have access to a local training provider.
	The table below shows the regional breakdown. The amount of funding allocated per region is based on a percentage of total places funded across England.
	
		
			 Region Number of funded training places taken up Percentage of total funded* Funding allocation (based on percentage of total number of places funded) 
			 North East 501 6% £1,695,618 
			 North West 1295 15% £4,239,045 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 1071 12% £3,391,236 
			 East Midlands 853 10% £2,826,030 
			 West Midlands 960 11% £3,108,633 
			 East of England 955 11% £3,108,633 
			 Inner London 244 3% £847,809 
			 Outer London 433 4% £1,130,412 
			 South East 1182 13% £3,673,839 
			 South West 885 10% £2,826,030 
			 Not specified (distance learning) 427 5% £1,413,015 
			 Total 8806 100% £28,260, 300 
		
	
	* Figures have been rounded up to the nearest percentage.

Schools: Toilets and Washing Facilities

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current state of school toilets and washing facilities; and how those facilities will be affected by any changes in regulation in this area.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The department has not made such an assessment, but is aware of a number of studies on the condition of school toilet and washing facilities. These were referred to by several respondents to the recent consultation on the proposed new school premises regulations. The analysis of responses will consider the evidence in the studies. The largest one cited, which covered 928 schools, was carried out in 2003.
	We believe that the requirements of the proposed regulation on school toilet and washing facilities will be clearer than now. Its main effects should therefore be to make it easier for schools to assess how satisfactory their facilities are, and then to ensure that they do meet the new standards.

Schools: Toilets and Washing Facilities

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any link between poor school toilets and washing facilities and continence problems and infection among children.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The department is aware of studies in these areas and received some details of them amongst the responses to the consultation on the proposed new school premises regulations. All responses are currently being analysed by officials and relevant evidence will be taken into account when finalising the detailed requirements for school toilet and washing facilities.

Schools: Toilets and Washing Facilities

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to ensure that changes in regulation of school toilet and washing facilities will not have a negative impact on children's health and education.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The department consulted widely on the proposed changes to the school premises regulations. During the 12-week consultation period officials held workshops on the proposed changes, which were attended by those with an interest in the areas being covered. One workshop covered school toilet and washing facilities, and other welfare issues.
	One hundred and forty organisations and individuals commented on the proposed regulation for toilet and washing facilities. These included schools, local authorities, the dioceses, technical and professional organisations and the unions. We believe that together they represent a sufficient range of interests against which to check that our proposals will not risk children's health and education.

Shipping: Towing Vessels

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the emergency towing vessel "Anglian Monarch" was withdrawn from service on the evening of 17 March, rather than at the end of March; and what notice was given to mariners and other interested parties.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency's (MCA) recent contract to operate emergency towing vessels (ETVs) in Scotland ran from 15 January 2012 to 17 March 2012, and was within the terms agreed by Government in October 2011.
	The Secretary of State for Scotland explained that the contract would come to an end on 17 March at the ETV Working Group meeting. This was held on 1 March and attended by representatives of Highland, Shetland, Western Isles and Orkney councils, as well as the Director of Marine Scotland, KIMO, the Northern Lighthouse Board and other stakeholders.

Shipping: Towing Vessels

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether tugs were available in the vicinity of the Minch when the MV "Flinterspirit" ran aground on the island of Flodday Mor on 19 March; and, if none was available, what was the estimated steaming time for the nearest available to arrive.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: There was no tug available in the Minch when the MV "Flinterspirit" ran aground. The nearest tug was the "Anglian Sovereign", 15 hours steaming away. The MV "Flinterspirit" did not require the help of a tug. She was able to refloat and make her own way to Stornoway for inspection.

Shipping: Towing Vessels

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they will put in place to protect mariners and the coastal environment in the north-west of Scotland in the event of vessels running aground or suffering power outages or other on-board emergencies which may require a rescue vessel.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is pursuing a more active monitoring of shipping using the automatic identification system (AIS), earlier contact with ships, their owners, insurers and salvors to initiate action and a revised version of the Coastguard Agreement for Salvage and Towage, which will provide for the prompt hire of available tugs on pre-agreed terms.

Sierra Leone

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will provide a breakdown, by date and purpose of payment, of the £27.6 million given to the Special Court of Sierra Leone since 2002; what arrangements are in place to audit the proper use of this money; and whether they plan to make any further payments.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Special Court for Sierra Leone was established in 2002 by an agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone. It is mandated to try those who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law and Sierra Leonean law committed in the territory of Sierra Leone since 30 November 1996. It is the first international criminal tribunal funded entirely from voluntary contributions from Governments. The total UK Government contribution to the Special Court for Sierra Leone from 2002 until the end of the financial year 2010-11 was £27,503,283.11, which is approximately 20% of the court's overall costs. The table below shows the payments in as much detail as possible. Payments were made in US dollars and the totals were therefore subject to different conversion rates.
	
		
			 UK Financial Year Discretionary Spend Dates 
			 2002-03 £2,600,000  
			 2003-04 £2,000,000  
			 2004-05 £2,002,941.11 £2m on 19 Apr 2004, and £2941.11 on 20 Jul 2004 
			 2005-06 £2,000,898 Total amount in Jan 2006 
			 2006-07 £1,040,000 £1m in Oct 2006, and £40k in Dec 2006 
			 2007-08 £5,000,000 £2m in Apr 2007, and £3m Mar 2008 
			 2008-09 £7,000,000 £3m in March 2008, £3m in Jan 2009, £lm in March 2009 
			 2009-10 £2,459,444 £760,000 in Aug 09, £1,000,556 in Feb 10, £699,444 in March 2010 
			 2010-11 £3,400,000 £400,000 in Jan 2010, £1m in Feb 2011, £2m in March 2011 
			  Total: £27,503,283.11 
			 2011-12 £600,000 £600,000 in March 2012 
			 Total to date £28,103,283.11  
		
	
	The main purpose of these payments was to support the investigation and prosecution of Charles Taylor (former President of Liberia) and the eight individuals who bore the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law and Sierra Leonean law committed during the civil war in Sierra Leone. Charles Taylor is the first former head of state to be brought to trial on charges of war crimes for actions he took while in office. Payments and costs in 2007-08 and 2008-09 were greater to facilitate the transfer of Charles Taylor to The Hague and the commencement of his trial.
	The Government's most recent contributions helped the Special Court to complete the trial of Charles Taylor. The additional payment of £600,000 in March 2012, taking the total contribution to date to £28,103,283.11, covered a shortfall in funding for trial and contempt proceedings.
	The Special Court's Management Committee, on which the UK is represented, provides a rolling audit on the court's activities and the overall budget. An independent external auditor also carries out an audit on an annual basis.
	The Government look forward to a verdict in the Charles Taylor trial on 26 April. Once any appeals are completed, only minimal residual functions will be required to ensure that key functions (such as witness protection and sentence enforcement) are maintained effectively. The Government will then consider whether any further contributions are necessary.

South Sudan

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will increase their support of non-governmental organisations in South Sudan to offset any shortfalls in state provision of education and health and to guarantee continued services.

Baroness Northover: Her Majesty's Government will continue to support service delivery by non-governmental organisations in South Sudan in the education and health sectors. The design of new programmes will need to take in to account possible shortfalls in government provision, but no final decisions have been taken by the Department for International Development to increase funding and we expect the Government of South Sudan to act in a responsible manner in relation to safeguarding essential services.

South Sudan

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many skilled returnees to South Sudan from Sudan they have assisted with small start-up grants in the past 12 months, and through what channels.

Baroness Northover: The UK Government are not assisting skilled South Sudanese returning from Sudan with small start-up grants.

Sudan and South Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what reports they have received regarding clashes in Sudan on 26 March in the disputed areas of Jau and Pan Akuach, in Unity State and South Kordofan.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We are aware of reports of aerial bombardments in Jau and Pan Akuach. However, we have seen no independent verification of these claims at this stage.
	We urge the Governments of Sudan and South Sudan to abide by their Memorandum of Understanding on Non-Aggression and Co-operation signed on 10 February, and to continue to work with the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel to resolve their differences.

Sudan and South Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what reports they have received regarding attacks by Sudanese forces in the area of Teshwin inside South Sudan; and what representations they have made to the Government of Sudan about violations of South Sudan's sovereignty.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We are concerned by reports of fighting between Sudan and South Sudan. There are conflicting reports about how this outbreak of violence started, with each country blaming the other for the initial attack. We have seen no independent verification of the events, although there is evidence that both countries have engaged in military activities in the territory of the other. We are urging all parties to take immediate steps to defuse the situation, halt the build-up of forces, and immediately implement border monitoring arrangements. We have also called on both Governments to cease aggressive acts, to stop all support to armed groups in each other's territory, and to abide by their Memorandum of Understanding on Non-Aggression and Co-operation signed on 10 February.

Taxation

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will introduce dynamic modelling to measure the impact of tax changes announced in the Budget; and, if so, when.

Lord Sassoon: The Chancellor has asked the Treasury to undertake research on the broader economy effects of changes to taxation. This will not affect the role of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) or the calculation of the cost or yield of new Budget policy decisions with a direct effect on public sector net borrowing, presented in table 2.1 of the Budget 2012 document.
	As set out in the Budget 2012 Policy Costings document, in the summer the Government and OBR intend to jointly publish a briefing paper explaining in more detail the approach to policy costings and the process for scrutiny and certification.

Transport: Eyesight Tests

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Attlee on 21 March (WA 180-1), how many collisions between (1) heavy goods vehicles, (2) buses and coaches, and (3) other vehicles, and (a) pedestrians, and (b) cyclists, involve drivers with defective vision.

Lord De Mauley: The number of reported personal injury road accidents in Great Britain between (1) heavy goods vehicles, (2) buses and coaches, and (3) other vehicles, and (a) pedestrians, and (b) cyclists, involving drivers with uncorrected or defective eyesight as a contributory factor is given in the table:
	
		
			 Number of accidents by vehicle type 
			  Vehicle type (a) Pedestrian, injured by vehicle (b) Pedal cycle 
			 2008 HGV 0 0 
			  Bus or Coach 0 0 
			  Other vehicle 34 1 
			 2009 HGV 0 0 
			  Bus or Coach 0 0 
			  Other vehicle 23 3 
			 2010 HGV 0 0 
			  Bus or Coach 0 0 
			  Other vehicle 24 4 
		
	
	The contributory factors reflect the reporting officer's opinion at the time of reporting and are not necessarily the result of extensive investigation. Moreover it is recognised that subsequent inquires could lead to the reporting officer changing his opinion. It is important to note that where some factors may have contributed to a cause of an accident, it may be difficult for a police officer attending the scene after the accident has occurred to identify these factors.

Transport: Eyesight Tests

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Attlee on 21 March (WA 179-80), whether they have plans to increase the frequency of eyesight testing for bus and lorry drivers.

Lord De Mauley: There are no plans to increase the frequency of formal eyesight testing for those who drive buses or lorries. Drivers of all motor vehicles have a legal responsibility to ensure that they are able to meet the appropriate vision standards at all times when driving.

Transport: Eyesight Tests

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the percentage of the United Kingdom population whose eyesight meets the visual standards set for driving at age 18 without glasses or corrective lenses who will not meet those standards at age 45 without glasses or corrective lenses.

Earl Howe: No such estimate has been made.
	Some adults may require glasses or contact lenses to continue to meet the visual standards set for driving by the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
	There is a legal obligation, under Section 94(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988, on the applicant/licence holder to notify, at any time, the DVLA of any medical condition which may affect their fitness to drive.
	Information in respect of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for the devolved Administrations.

Transport: Eyesight Tests

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the percentage of (1) car, (2) heavy goods vehicle, and (3) bus and coach drivers, who drive without using glasses or corrective lenses whose eyesight does not meet the standards required for driving without such lenses.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: It is not possible to estimate the percentage of those who drive without their appropriate vision correction. Drivers of all motor vehicles have a legal responsibility to ensure that they are able to meet the appropriate vision standards at all times when driving.

Transport: Semi-trailers

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the semi-trailers permitted in the trial that started in January 2012, (1) have a larger blind spot than conventional heavy goods vehicles; (2) pose any increased risk to cyclists compared to conventional heavy goods vehicles; (3) are required to fit motion sensors or cameras to increase safety in blind spots; and (4) have any special conditions as regards accessing narrow roads or city centres.

Lord De Mauley: The research undertaken by the Transport Research Laboratory concluded that the field of view from the cab of the HGV is not expected to be affected by changes to the length of semi-trailers.
	While the research identified a potential increase in risk of up to 9 per cent compared to conventional heavy goods vehicles, the report made clear that the risk analyses had been deliberately conservative and were likely to produce an over-estimate. The research also indicated that, for many trailer configurations, the overall length-relevant accident involvement rates (accidents per billion vehicle kilometres) would actually decrease. Overall it was considered likely that the effects of the measures under consideration would be sufficiently small to make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to identify them in a reliable post-hoc analysis after implementation or to have any measurable effect on the overall long-term downward trend in HGV accident involvement rates.
	The trial does not require the fitting of motion sensors or cameras as it wishes to compare the performance of these lorries directly with that of conventional heavy goods vehicles, which are not required to be so fitted. However, if trial participants choose to incorporate these elements in the trailers they operate, the trial will identify these and monitor their impacts.
	There are no special conditions regarding access. These vehicles are within the maximum dimensions permitted for other heavy goods vehicles, and comply with the turning circle requirements of the construction and use regulations.

Turkey

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether United Kingdom or European Union diplomats will be present at the indictment hearing before the 15th Istanbul High Criminal Court (Turkey) in the cases of R Zarakolu and Professor B Ersanli, and any subsequent proceedings.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We are not planning on sending a representative to the indictment hearing before the 15th Istanbul High Criminal Court in the cases of Ragip Zarakolou and Professor Busra Ersanli.
	We understand that both a representative of the Delegation for the European Union to Turkey and the European Parliament will be present at the indictment hearing.
	We continue to share the concerns expressed by the Council of Europe, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the European Commission over issues surrounding freedom of expression in Turkey, including the culture of excessive pre-trial detentions. We welcome the recent announcement of judicial reform, addressing some of the issues and encourage Turkey to take advantage of the opportunities created by the process of constitutional reform to make broader human rights reforms.

Turkey

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Kurds in Turkey are being detained without trial and subject to torture or sexual harassment.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We continue to monitor the ongoing pre-trial detention of journalists, politicians, officials and others and share the concerns of our European Union (EU) partners over the culture of excessive pre-trial detention. We welcome recent steps taken by the Turkish Ministry of Justice to address some of the issues and call for further urgent progress.
	The UK considers torture and sexual harassment to be abhorrent violations of human rights and human dignity, and consistently and unreservedly condemns their practice. We welcome Turkey's ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture in September 2011 and the positive trend recently identified in the recent annual EU progress report. We look forward to further progress.
	We are aware of recent media reports of child prisoners being subjected to sexual harassment. We understand the Turkish Ministry of Justice has initiated criminal proceedings against six personnel. We call on Turkey to continue to take these allegations seriously.

Turkey

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Howell of Guildford on 19 March (WA 149), whether they now intend to make representations to Turkey about the arrests of Mr Ahmet Sik and Mr Nedim Sener.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We do not intend to make specific representations to the Government of Turkey about the arrests of Mr Ahmet Sik and Mr Nedim Sener.
	We welcome the recent release of four high-profile prisoners, including Ahmet Sik and Nedim Sener, following 375 days on remand for charges of belonging to the Ergenekon organisation.
	We continue to share the concerns expressed by the Council of Europe, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the European Commission over issues surrounding freedom of expression in Turkey, including the culture of excessive pre-trial detention. We welcome the recent announcement of judicial reforms addressing some of the problems. We urge Turkey to continue to tackle these urgent issues.

Union Learning Fund

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Wilcox on 14 March (WA 82), whether the Union Learning Fund (ULF) has been or will be subject to any reduction in its funding, or its funding growth; why they agreed that a new key priority should be reaching out to non-unionised workplaces; and whether such activity is within the remit of the ULF.

Baroness Wilcox: Due to pressures on departmental budgets, the Unionlearn budget for 2012-13 has been reduced by 6% (£1.29 million).
	Reaching out to non-unionised workplaces is within the remit of the ULF. Through the work of Union Learn, opportunities for workers in non-unionised workplaces have been identified to access learning via learning agreements with their employers. This work has focused on unions opening their facilities such as learning centres to individuals either in the community or working in the supply chain for a unionised company.
	The 2011-12 Union Learn grant letter sets out a formal expectation for Union Learn to extend its approach into non unionised workplaces. This includes:
	extending the benefits of union learning so that more employees and employers understand and have an opportunity to engage in learning;extending support to union members working in non unionised workplaces to develop a "learning champion" role in consultation with their employers;promoting learning champions to others in contact with Union Learn (through learning centres); andusing informal learning in non-unionised workplaces to promote formal learning.
	The Union Learn prospectus, which was published on 8 September 2011, identifies engagement in non unionised workplaces as a priority for Union Learn-funded projects.

Vatican

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the relations between the United Kingdom and the Vatican.

Lord Howell of Guildford: As I saw when I visited the Vatican in February, as part of the Ministerial delegation led by the Minister without Portfolio at the Cabinet Office, my right honourable friend Baroness Warsi, the United Kingdom's relations with the Holy See are strong and substantive. The visit in February signified a further step forward in our dialogue and co-operation across a broad range of international issues, including: human rights; the inter-faith dialogue; the situation in the Middle East; Africa (including Somalia); arms proliferation; climate change; international development; as well as cultural and bilateral affairs.
	Given that the Holy See is one of the world's oldest organisations, at the centre of a truly global network, we believe that it is important to maintain and develop a substantive diplomatic dialogue with the Vatican, with the aim of addressing the challenges I have alluded to above. As we have seen with Pope Benedict XVI's recent visit to Mexico and Cuba, the Holy See is an important actor in international affairs.
	2012 marks thirty years of full diplomatic relations between the UK and the Holy See, which were elevated to Ambassadorial level shortly before the pastoral visit of Pope John Paul II to the United Kingdom in 1982. Since then of course, in September 2010, we have welcomed Pope Benedict XVI on an historic official visit to Britain-a further sign of the developing relationship between this country and the Holy See.
	Clearly, as in any diplomatic relationship, there are areas on which our views will differ, but these differences should not overshadow the many other areas on which we do agree and on which we should-and do-work together to tackle a wide range global challenges.

Visas

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 21 March (WA 165), in what circumstances indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom is granted to these who entered the United Kingdom on a student visa; under what circumstances students meet the rules relating to long residence entitling them to naturalisation; and whether they have powers to change the law so that time spent on a student visa can no longer potentially count towards the residence requirements for naturalisation.

Lord Henley: The student route (tier 4) of the points-based system is a temporary one and not a route to settlement (indefinite leave to remain). This will be further emphasised from April 2012 when a maximum time limit of five years for bachelors and masters level is added to the existing three years below degree level study; and the tier 1 post study route is closed.
	Those granted leave to enter as students are expected to leave the UK on completion of their studies or on the expiry of leave to enter if they are not able to meet the requirements for an extension of stay.
	Students are able to switch into the family route to settlement with an application for leave as a partner. They will normally be eligible to settle after a period of two years of further leave to remain as a spouse, civil partner, unmarried or same sex partner.
	The points-based system allows people to enter and remain in the UK. There are five tiers including tier 1 for high net worth migrants and tier 2 for skilled workers. Students can switch into the tier 1 investor category with a minimum investment in a UK business of £1 million or the tier 2 skilled worker category provided that the post cannot be filled by a British or EEA national. Those who qualify for leave to remain in these work routes will normally be eligible to apply for settlement after five years, or earlier for tier 1 categories if they meet the following criteria:
	three years for tier 1 entrepreneurs who create at least 10 new jobs for a period of 12 months with new business income of at least £5 million; andthree years for tier 1 investors if their investment is at least £5 million or two years if their investment is at least £10 million in a UK business.
	Time spent as a student does not count as qualifying leave in either family or work routes. Leave spent as a student can contribute towards an application for settlement on the basis of long residence under part 7 paragraph 276A of the Immigration Rules.
	Those who gain indefinite leave to remain may then go on to meet the residence requirements for naturalisation. Schedule 1 to the British Nationality Act 1981 states that a person should have resided legally in the UK for a qualifying period of three or five years and be free from immigration time control at the point of application. Leave as a student can therefore contribute to the required residence period for the purposes of naturalisation provided that they settle.
	An amendment to primary legislation would be required to prevent those who have spent time on student visas from satisfying the residence requirements for naturalisation. The Home Office has no plans to amend the requirements for naturalisation at the current time.

Water Industry (Financial Assistance) Bill

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what Barnett consequential payments would be made to the National Assembly for Wales arising from payments made under the Water Industry (Financial Assistance) Bill.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: This Bill applies only to water companies wholly or mainly in England. Any additional new funding allocated to departmental budgets in devolved areas will result in consequential increases in the Welsh block grant in the normal way.

Water Management: Purification Units

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many water purification units they have available for emergencies at home or abroad.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Stowell of Beeston on 19 March (Official Report, col. 736), what happened to the 14,000 water purification units that were stored by the Ministry of Defence.

Baroness Northover: The Department for International Development does not have responsibility for managing the use of water purification units for emergencies at home or abroad. It is not possible to calculate centrally the number of such units available to Her Majesty's Government. UK water companies do not routinely stock water purification units. Prefabricated water purification units can be purchased from manufacturers at short notice if required. Information about the type of (point-of-use) water purification units used for emergencies abroad (following flooding, earthquake et cetera) would be held by non-governmental organisations rather than governmental agencies.